Caleb Landers

Caleb Landers is a Search and Rescue canine handler and founder of 3R K-9 Search Foundation holding the title of Chairman of the Board. He is currently employed as a Search and Rescue K-9 handler and trainer for the Quapaw Nation Department of Emergency Management and holds the title of Deployment Manager. Growing up Caleb was known to bring home every stray dog or cat or injured wild animal he found much to the dismay of his family. Caleb’s Father was the Chief of Police in Lowell Arkansas and purchased the department’s first K-9. Caleb would spend time helping his Dad and the handler train with the dog. Because of that Caleb decided he would grow up to become a dog trainer.

Career

Caleb began taking steps to become a professional dog trainer in 2008 when he rescued a German Shepherd. He interned under a trainer with Canine Unlimited where he began to learn how to train police K9s. In 2012 Caleb moved to Louisiana to attend school and work part-time as a dog trainer working under a Police K9 trainer. In May of 2012, his father was tragically killed by a drunk driver in Panama City Beach Florida. The community both in Florida and back home in Northwest Arkansas rallied around him and his family. Feeling that love and support is what led him to begin to find ways of giving back. He found a way to do that through search and rescue. In 2012 he joined a volunteer Search and Rescue team in Louisiana. In 2014 he moved back to Northwest Arkansas and joined Washington County Search and Rescue. In 2022 he was hired by Quapaw Nation Emergency Management to help build one of the first paid K9 Search and Rescue teams in the 4-state area. Since then, he has helped create paid K9 teams for 2 other tribes.  

Caleb has led instruction and K-9 training in Live Find area searches, tracking/trailing, and disaster search, as well as instructing in the field of Human Remains Detection. He has assisted numerous Search and Rescue teams and law enforcement agencies on all aspects of K9 detection, handler skills, and search techniques as well as providing virtual search planning and mapping. Caleb holds a SARtech 2 certification through NASAR.

K9 History

Caleb has trained and assisted in the training of many law enforcement K9s as well as numerous Search and Rescue K-9s for others. He has trained and certified 3 of his personal dogs in Human Remains Detection (Rowdy, Shadow, BayLee) and was certified in trailing with a dog trained and owned by a teammate (Hades). Caleb has/had K-9 certifications through NOCSAR, AWDA, and NAPWDA.

Current Endeavors

Currently, Caleb has 2 K-9s Shadow and BayLee that he trained and certified for human remains detection. Caleb is the Chairperson and founding member of 3R K-9 Search Foundation  3R’s mission is to train rescue dogs for Search and Rescue to donate to volunteer teams and law enforcement agencies as well as conduct search missions throughout the US. Caleb is a board member of the Arkansas Search and Rescue Association, works as a part-time K9 handler/ trainer and deployment manager for the Quapaw Nation Department of Emergency Management. Caleb hosts  weekly and monthly K9 training for multiple Search and Rescue teams focusing on all aspects of Search and Rescue.