@K9Enzo,
Thank you. The reason I asked is that a peculiar incident happened after the official search had ended. A scent dog was taken to some sites along a different road in Poudre Canyon some distance away from the Big South. On their way back down from their search area, the dog caught a scent while searching in cadaver mode which led them to the resolution of a 17-year-old murder mystery where a teenage drifter working as a handyman at a resort was murdered and thrown into a mine shaft, which was then dynamited by the perpetrator. The reason I bring this up on Jaryd's thread is because it is an interesting comparison between the search dog teams the Sheriff brought in vs the independent searchers. It adds a lot of weight to the fact that Jaryd was likely taken off trail.
We have a potential theory we're discussing and hope to share with you soon.
Interesting. Well trained dog, outstanding handler in this case. It sounds like this handler trusted his/her dog and allowed them to keep going. Another tragic story, a 17 year old murder victim.
My opinion only: there are so many situations in my mind that could have played out in regards to the dogs.
Did live find air-scent dogs and/or trailing dogs not find Jaryd because he was no longer on the mountain? The trail went cold.
Was he still alive on the mountain during the official search but was not found because of various situations like; wind movement, a moving child being steps ahead, weather, dogs confused because of all the foot traffic, not the best dog/handler team, not a thought-out coordinated effort, the list goes on.
Then there's HRD dogs. Perhaps they weren't used during the official search? I can absolutely see why the family would want them during the private search where they had more control. But again, did HRD dogs not pick up on human remains because there were simply none in the vast search areas OR.... Then you have a HRD dog out searching for Jaryd and indicate on human remains of another victim. They really can smell remains over a LARGE area, they can zero in on just traces of remains as well, even YEARS later.
I wish the use of dogs was 100% fail proof. It's not, BUT with a well trained dog, partnered with the right handler, you have a solid force to be reckoned with.