Area search dogs find people by locating human scent as it travels on the wind. They usually work in a grid pattern until they encounter scent of the missing person, and then follow that scent on the wind until they locate the person. They are effective in finding a lost or missing person in large areas or thickly vegetated areas where human searchers would take considerably more time. Area search dogs are not typically scent specific (like a trailing dog) and will locate any human scent in a search area. They are very effective for covering large search areas with high efficiency and accuracy.