Cairn Canine Detection

08/07/2026

Three years ago today, Cairn Canine Detection was officially founded with a clear mission: to serve our communities through dedicated K9 historical human remains detection work. 🐾🐾

Working at the intersection of canine detection, archaeology, cultural resource management, and historical inquiry, we support projects involving unmarked graves, forgotten cemeteries, institutional burial grounds, and other contexts in which very old human remains may be present. Our work emphasizes non-invasive search methods, cultural sensitivity, and careful collaboration with the professionals and communities responsible for a site.

🎉Looking back over the last 3 years, we are so proud of the work our volunteer team and extraordinary dogs have put in. From endless hours of training to supporting critical search efforts, every milestone has been made possible by the unwavering dedication of our handlers, supporters, and partners.

We’ve worked to locate unmarked graves in historical cemeteries, searched large areas of a Native American Boarding School, and done presentations to archaeologists and law enforcement and others about the special work that we do.

As this new field develops, we’ll stay at the forefront, working with colleagues across the county to develop standards for training, certification and deployment that acknowledge the specific skills needed for historical human remains detection work.

To everyone who has cheered us on, supported our mission, or worked alongside us—thank you. Here’s to 3 years of hard work, partnership, and purpose, and to many more ahead! ❤️

08/03/2026

08/03/2026

Great people. Diverse expertise. One meaningful project.

08/02/2026

Persistence. Collaboration. Curiosity.

In January 2024, Cairn Canine Detection (CCD) began supporting John Horne in the search for possible unmarked burials associated with Northern State Hospital. More than two years later, we’re still at it—and the project continues to grow.

Recently, we had the opportunity to introduce Brian Whiting, a geophysicist from British Columbia, to John and the City of Sedro-Woolley. Brian generously volunteered to contribute his expertise by conducting pro bono GPR and LiDAR surveys to complement the ongoing work.

Yesterday, it all came together. Brian was joined by Mayor JoEllen Kesti, Parks Manager Nathan Salseina, John Horne, and our Cairn Canine Detection team for a day of collaboration in the field.

While Brian deployed his equipment, we demonstrated how our historical human remains detection (HHRD) dogs work. Meara, Thor, and Kili each showed trained final responses (TFRs) in an area outside the officially recognized cemetery. Plus they got to do some training on the absolutely gorgeous Northern State Hospital grounds.

The biggest personal milestone for me (Suzanne) of the day belonged to K9 Kulla who is still in training. After months of carefully progressing through training on marked burials, she was deployed in this type of environment for the first time. She worked confidently and independently, offering several solid TFRs in the unmarked area outside the cemetery—a proud moment for both handler and dog.

Now comes the part we all enjoy most: comparing independent lines of evidence. We’re looking forward to seeing how the geophysical data aligns—or doesn’t—with what our dogs indicated. Each method brings different strengths, and together they help build a more complete understanding of the landscape.

A huge thank you to everyone involved. Projects like this happen because people from different disciplines are willing to work together with open minds and a shared commitment to learning more about the past.

We look forward to doing further work with our dogs outside the official cemetery in the Spring 2027.

07/19/2026

In 2023 our team connected with the Elizabeth Ellington Chapter, NSDAR who had begun its preservation work on the historical Seabeck Cemetery on the Kitsap Peninsula of WA State.

The cemetery has about 180 listed graves but only 50 – 60 headstones remain. Over the next several years our team, with our historical human remains detection K9s, made several visits to help locate some of the unmarked graves and identify areas for followup with ground penetrating radar.

When we first started, the cemetery was heavily overgrown with salal making it difficult for the dogs to work in places. But each time we came back, the Seabeck volunteers had continued to make great progress removing the salal and other debris and making the cemetery beautiful again.

Yesterday, Board Member Sally Olsen and K9 Meara attended the re-dedication of the cemetery. Seabeck Cemetery has been transformed – the ground cleared, a new gazebo built, an interpretive sign installed, and many headstones located, raised and restored!

We are grateful to have played a small part in this effort and applaud the work of all the volunteers who worked so very hard to restore the historic Seabeck Cemetery.

07/08/2026

Two cemeteries. One elementary school. Endless lessons.
Today was all about reading history written into the ground: working scattered remains, interpreting linear features, evaluating historic burials, and then watching Kulla shift gears to demonstrate unmistakable odor recognition on recent cremains burials.
Training like this reminds us that HHRD isn’t about memorizing patterns—it’s about learning to interpret complex scent, context, and behavior across vastly different environments.
A huge thank you to Suzanne Arnell, President of the Kingston Cemetery Association, for providing this outstanding opportunity to train at the Kingston Cemetery. Experiences like these are invaluable in preparing teams for the real-world challenges of historical human remains detection.

06/30/2026

Why we need to train cremains? There is no organic matter, so what do they smell?

Ash Is Not Decay Cremated Remains as a Training Source for Human Remains Detection Dogs — and Why Calcined Bone Is a Different Target Than Late-Stage Decomposition An educational review for working handlers and trainers · A PRSAR K9 Human Remains Detection Technical Series Paper · June 2026 Cont...

06/30/2026

Why we need to understand the science around bones as HHRD K9 teams..

Over the last year, while working on several Old Cold Cases, we have encountered the problem of Bone Ash. To my surprise, most Crime Scene and University Teams are not aware of Bone Ash. I hope this article will raise awareness and maybe set up a good procedure for collection and testing.

06/28/2026

Think odor behaves the same in a cemetery as it does anywhere else? Think again.
Another outstanding session in our Cairn Canine Detection “Odor Journey” series with Ronda Bowser, this time diving into the fascinating complexities of odor movement in cemeteries. Every session challenges assumptions and raises new questions.
Bring on Zooms 4 and 5.

06/16/2026