Would you rather be handling a narcotics dog or a bomb dog. How about some pros and cons.

I have handled a narcotics dog and am in the process of training my 2nd one. In the meantime, I have a 6 month old Malinois that would make a very good passive indicator and has a ton of drive.

Curious

Mark, I was in the same boat as you. After working a narc dog for 5 years I was getting burned out on it, especially when the average officer or supervisor wanted to use the dog in a way they werent really supposed to be utilized.

I really looked forward to working a bomb dog when the opportunity arose. The training was very interesting because it was new to me and made me think alot more. The only downside Ive found to working an EDD is the amount of extra training required. The EDD is require to learn approx 3 times as many odors as the narc dog, plus it is mandatory that the find rate percentage be higher, for obvious reasons. This places alot more stress on the team.

Because you are dealing in explosives the training process is completely different as far as the handler goes. Training of the dog is basically the same. Remember, one false move and Kaboom. This means that you must do bomb sweeps in the dark if a room is found that way. Also, no moving of articles like chairs, boxes etc., they could be rigged to explode. Its pretty difficult to keep a high drive dog from moving things around but you have to. You must also be able to trust the backup officer that is with you not to do anything stupid. I find it less stressfull doing the sweep solo.

The cool thing about bomb work is that there are more opportunities to travel and meeet other handlers from different agencies. Also, people tend not to bother you with silly questions when you are in charge of the bomb sweep, what you say goes. This is serious business.

I remember when I got my very first drug alert on the street with my first dog. It was pretty neat. The first time I got a positive alert in a real life search with my EDD, I almost crapped my pants. There is no comparison. Hope this sheds a little light.........Howard

Howard,
Thanks for reply - it's not that I'm burned out doing the narcotics thing, even though we are losing the "war" on drugs - I still feel good whenever we take some dope the street. Feeling "OK" here is some stuff - some kid won't get.

I quess the "bomb" dog thing is another way of learning more in the K-9 area. Not that I like the idea about being around explosives.

Is this bomb dog thing going to be a fad or do you suppose it is here to stay, until we feel safe again.

Have your training time increased due to the extra odors and being passive???

You have brought up some areas of thought for me.

Thanks
Mark

Mark,

Bomb dogs were a part of life long before 9/11, so I expect there will always be a need. Especially since any fool can use a cell phone to make a threat.
There is definately more training involved with explosives. Not only because the dog has to recognize more odors, but a higher find rate is required. If a drug dog misses some dope its no big deal. If a bomb dog misses, lives are at stake.

Working an EDD definately makes the handler use his noodle more. You must learn to step lightly and ALWAYS watch the dog. Teaching passive, to me, takes less energy so it is a time saver. A real mind game is when the EDD hits on an odor that is not an explosive but has some of the same properties, so you have to be current in what is out there that may throw the dog a curve.

Well,
when you consider that the greatest number of bombers are our own home grown "activists" that we deal with not Al Queda or other foreign terrorist groups you can see that the bomb problem has been here and will continue for some time.
I enjoy the work with the EDD's Detector work is detector work really. The bomb dog sort of the distance runner on the track team vs. the narc dog that would usually be the sprinter.

Kevin, Good analogy. Bomb work definately tests your endurance.

In a canine unit the size of ours, we have guys that do not want to work a drug dog, but love working an EDD. The inditial training for an EDD is longer.In-service training time is the same for both, all dogs are required 16 hours per month. EDD's, thankfully, do a lot more searching without finding anything, although the past couple of years the number of sweeps we do has gone up dramatically. We have 5 EDD's.

DFrost

David, 16 hrs a month may be the minimum, but do you really feel that is adequate? Are all your EDDs dual, or single purpose or do you have both. In your experience, do the single purpose dogs have an edge over the DP dogs when the same amount of training is conducted? Jst like to know since there are those out there that believe working dogs should only do one or the other.

Howard,

Yes sir, I think 16 hours, as a rule, is enough when the training time is used wisely. All our EDD's are single purpose. I'm not opposed to dual purpose dogs, and if they were dual purpose, there would be more required training time. The proficiency of the dogs is closely monitored, as is the in-service training that they conduct. The documentation that is provided allows an honest assessment of the dog. Training is objectively based relative an individual dogs training records,therefore each training session has a specific objective, rather than the shotgun approach. I don't feel a single purpose dog has an edge over a dual purpose dog. Having said that however, one must take into consideration a number of factors that raises the difficulty level such as: dog selection is more critical, initial training time is longer, they require longer in-service periods etc. To me, it becomes a management decision, based on operational requirements whether to field dual or single purpose dogs.


DFrost

David,

Thanks. My dog is DP and it is tough to get all the required training each month. We currently hold formal unit training 20 hours a month. I have to pick up the slack during slow times at work. Having an EDD as a DP dog definately tests a persons desire to be a handler. I agree that an honest assessment of the dogs' performance during training is the responsible thing to do. If the dog isnt cutting it the handler has to man-up and admit it.