By Ron Mistafa

Product # 932

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. General Issues
Overview and Statements
Choosing Candidates
Explosive Detection Dog Requirements
How to choose your Explosive Detection Dog

2. Testing the Dog's Personality
Varied Environments
Strong Prey, Retrieval/Play Behaviors
Testing Observations
"Rank" Dogs
Possessive Dogs

3. Training Methods
High Range Level Dogs
Mid Range Level Dogs
Low Range Level Dogs

4. Scenario Training
Search Theory
Search Scenario Training

5. Search Training Rules and On-Scene
Conduct
Search Training Rules
Call Conduct (On-Scene)
Arson & Tactical Unit Assistance

6. Course Certification & Problem Solving
Course Certification Requirements
Course Certification/Re-certification Rating Guide
Problem Solving

7. Police Departments Bastard Child
Budgets
Courses
Use of Specialty Units and Scheduling

8. Explosives
Training with Explosives
Identification of Explosives
The Internet
Some Points of Interest
Radio Transmitting
Storage and Transportation
First-Aid and Health
Laws to Know

9. Glossary of Terms and Acronyms
Selected Bibliography

Introduction

This book was written to help those departments who do not yet have an Explosive Detection Dog, or who are not completely satisfied with their present system of Training Standards.

This book is not "the answer," but is more a series of helpful hints to set your unit on its way to more meaningful training and confidence. It places a lot of emphasis on effective and efficient training, which in turn produces very confident Detection Teams who search with high degrees of EFFICIENCY, EFFECTIVENESS and SAFETY. This book is designed for the experienced handler or trainer, but can be easily followed by the beginner as well. However, as with any Dog Unit aspect, always train with someone who has a lot of experience or is an expert, especially in Explosive Detection.

What I found missing throughout North America is a Course Training Standard with a simplistic theory, broader training methods and a system that requires scenario training as 60% of the course. There are three important aspects for success:

1. Quality of the Dog
2. Quality of the Handler
3. What the Handler learns that is appropriate to the functions the
team will be performing.

To better explain, I found that most departments spend little or no time choosing a suitable dog candidate, due to budget constraints or to belief that any dog will do, and therefore will send their handler out to look for a candidate. This is where knowledge is crucial. A "Quality" dog will be quicker to learn the basics - to recognize scents - and therefore allow more valuable time for scenario training for the team. Second, both the handler and the dog must be suited to the work. Explosive Detection is the hardest training a handler will ever go through with a dog. So be sure your handler candidate knows what he/she is in for. Third, the course itself - what knowledge is most appropriate to learn for success in the field?

Over 90% of the courses offered to handler teams spend much of the classroom time studying drives, character traits and instincts instead of "how to." Learning about drives, character traits and instincts may tell you why a dog does what he does, but it does not tell the handler "how to" respond to the information, which is more important. Therefore, you can see that the better the dog, the less time needs to be spent on basics. The better the handler, the quicker the dog team learns and the appropriate learned information helps create a more confident and efficient team.

Another reason for a lack of good Course Training Standards is that so much emphasis is being placed on hi-tech machines. So much financing has been put into these machines that we are seeing the proven tool (dogs) being pushed off to the side more and more. The dog's nose is taking second place to mechanical Explosive Vapor Detectors (EVDs) and x-ray machines. The demonstrations and training courses given by the companies who make these machines have allowed airports and security companies to put these tools into the hands of lower-paid and less motivated/experience personnel. Highly skilled dog teams are being relied upon a lot less and are not being utilized as front-line technicians.

The approach today is to have security personnel highly visible, with as many metal detectors, explosive vapor detectors and x-ray units as possible to help "prevent incidents." This is the hi-tech proactive approach. The approach is justified to the public and to police department managers as saving time and money on:

• weeks of training
  
• veterinarian bills
  
• dog food
  
• vehicles and equipment

However, what is purposely not mentioned through all of this hype is the ineffectiveness of these machines and the people operating them.

Now that attention has been taken away from the dog and the handler, a Course Training Standard that covers effectiveness, efficiency and safely is extremely hard to find. Because of this, five weeks or less of Basic Training is geared only to the dogs' ability to recognize the scents and sit. Nothing more is given to the handler/dog team as a whole to create an extremely efficient searching team.

A Course Training Standard Manual should emphasize the importance of:

1. The quality of the dog suited for this type of work.
2. Choices of Training Systems to suit the dog, with fewer resulting
washouts.
3. Search Theory that emphasizes the importance of scenario
training to help create an efficient and effective search team.

A well-trained Explosive Detection Team is far more effective and efficient than a vapor detection team by itself. However, if you use the machine and the dog/handler teams together, you have one incredible system.