UCON, Idaho -- Search and rescue dogs and their handlers are working to improve their skills in locating human remains this weekend.

Regional non-profit Snake River Search" hosted a cadaver canine seminar.

Two-year-old Paco loves his toys. In fact, they're the motivating factor behind his search and rescue missions.

"The dogs view this as a game," said David Ferguson, of Snake River Search. "They enjoy this work."

Toys, treats, love: All incentives for the dogs to play detective. And for their handlers, who donate time and effort, the reasons vary.

"I had a few times I needed help and realized there need to be people willing to do this and capable of doing this," said Ray Shriver, a volunteer in Teton County.

Snake River Search is an Idaho Falls-based non-profit made up of volunteers and their dogs who help western Wyoming and southern Idaho agencies on search and rescues.

"A lot of agencies don't have the resources, funding, time to do it and so we offer it as a service to help those people with low cost," said Ferguson.

On Saturday, expert trainers taught the teams to find human remains. It's a sad reality of many searches.

"We get material training aids that smell like humans, deceased humans, and introduce it to them so they learn to recognize a particular odor," said Ferguson. "So we train them that this odor means 'I get my reward.'"

Paco is Shriver's second dog. His first had 12 "finds" in 11 years.

"To give an idea of the seriousness of matters, only three were alive," said Shriver.

As for Paco, he's still waiting for his first rescue.

Snake River Search volunteers have provided tens of thousands of hours and miles of service.