Abstract
This study examines the qualitative experiences of dogs and handlers working on canine search and rescue teams as they strive to develop a successful relationship through working, training, and living together. In order to work effectively, these teams form affective partnerships characterized by mutual advocacy, correspondence, and trust, which highlight the co-constructed nature of more than human worlds and allow members of both species to contest certain framings of their partners in their social worlds. Each chapter will further explore how handlers grapple with contemporary controversies in their field which are often framed as questions of effectiveness and personal choice in regards to the development of a successful dog-handler relationship, but that I will argue are as contentious as they are partly because they are animated by strong affective multispecies bonds and are, at their core, debates about deeper questions and shifting attitudes regarding the responsibilities of humans to their non-human partners and to the global (multispecies) community as a whole. As experts working on the front lines of multispecies cooperation in the face of climate crises, the experiences and insights of canine search and rescue teams suggest implications for public policy and as it pertains to more-than-human engagement with the rest of our shared planet.
Degree Date
Spring 5-15-2021
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Department
Anthropology
Advisor
Nicolas Sternsdorff-Cisterna
Second Advisor
Caroline Brettell
Third Advisor
Nia Parson
Fourth Advisor
Sabine Frühstück
Subject Area
Anthropology
Number of Pages
228
Format
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Recommended Citation
Griffin, Kara, "Making Scents: Multispecies Partnership, Security, and Affect Among Canine Search and Rescue Teams" (2021). Anthropology Theses and Dissertations.
https://scholar.smu.edu/hum_sci_anthropology_etds/14
