Dogs and humans have shared an extraordinary bond for thousands of years. DNA evidence has shown that dogs are descended from ancient wolves and were domesticated over 100,000 years ago. It is believed that canine service work dates back to the pre-historic age when dogs helped nomads hunt for food. As time went on, their function expanded to herding and guarding farms and crops, and since the earliest human settlements, canines have provided us their protection, their vigilance, and their devoted companionship. Today, they may be classified as ‘Working Dogs.’
Why Working Dogs at Airports?
The deep connection that has grown between dogs and humans over the centuries has been seen in the way dogs work, play, and live with us. With the building of this genuine bond, it is evident that dogs possess an empathy and a ‘dog sense’ that is clearly felt in the way they communicate so much to us through their nose, ears, eyes, and touch.
A dog’s most keenly developed sense is undoubtedly, their olfactory sense, or sense of smell. In a recent communication with Dr. Brian Collins, senior lecturer in community practice at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine and extension associate at the Cornell Richard P. Riney Canine Health Center he explained, ‘Dogs are macrosmatics, meaning that their sense of smell, or olfaction, is highly developed. Combined with their exceptional memory and ability to learn, their capacity to identify odors makes them highly valuable in the detection of possible threats and security issues in airports.
Their specialized anatomical and physiological features enable them to detect and recognize odors at extremely low level, even rivaling the limits of technology. Their ability to detect and recognize chemical signals is roughly 10,000 to 100,00 times that of people, making them extremely useful in identifying target odors that they have been trained to focus on, such as drugs and explosives, and even certain individuals.’
Indigenous breeds had large, mobile ears that enabled them to hear sounds from a great distance. Certain breeds have more acute hearing than others, but all can detect noises more intensely than the human ear, and they can hear sound at a much higher frequency than people can. Dogs are also able to shut off their inner ear to fine tune and filter out distracting sounds. They can have as many as 18 muscles in their ears that enable them to move and rotate them independently so that they can discern differences between sounds and absorb more information.
Though their sight is not as strong as their sense of smell, dogs can generally see better in low light than humans. Their field of vision is wider because their eyes are set further back in their heads, so they are not as good as focusing on objects at close range and judging distance, but they are very good at noticing movement. Dogs also have a third eyelid which is a membrane that protects the eye from irritants and produces tears.
Dogs are sensitive to touch and use this sense to communicate with other dogs and with their humans. Touch-sensitive hairs called vibrissae, or whiskers, that develop on the muzzle, above the eyes, and below the jaw, are capable of sensing airflow and can help a dog sense changes with them as they approach an object without touching it.
At airports, detection dogs are trained to detect target scents and alert their handlers to them. This is known as imprinting. Imprinting is the foundation of canine detection, where a dog learns how to recognize and respond to the target odor. Because of the dogs’ incredible sense of smell, the list of detectable scents varies, but the main targeted scents include explosives, illegal narcotics, firearms, fire accelerants, cash, and other contraband.
In 1984, Beagles were first put to work by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) when the ‘Beagle Brigade’ was created at Los Angeles International Airport.
In March 2023, The Ark at JFK International Airport, which is dedicated to the welfare of in-transit pets, cited an article on the ARK Pet Oasis [Bilis, M. (2019, Dec.) Here’s Why So Many Canine Employees at U.S. Airports are Beagles, Travel & Leisure], reporting that there are about 120 canine teams working in airports, cargo warehouses, shipping terminals, and ports of entry. The working dogs in the Beagle Brigade have primarily been trained at a facility run by the U.S.D.A. National Detector Dog Training Center (NDDTC) in Georgia. All the detector dogs at the NDDTC are adopted from rescue shelters in the United States, or come to the program from private donations. The center is the primary training facility for teaching selected dogs to inspect international passenger baggage, cargo, and parcels, for prohibited agricultural items that could carry foreign plant pests or animal diseases into the country. These dogs are trained to detect certain fruits, vegetables, and meats that could harm the country’s farms, forests, and crops which could cost the United States billions of dollars annually, while having a devastating impact on the country’s agricultural producers.
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has had canine operations at airport environments for nearly 15 years and has played a critical role in improving airport security and enhancing the passenger experience. The TSA’s National Explosives Detection Canine Program trains and deploys both TSA-led and state and local law enforcement-led canine teams in support of day-to-day activities that protect the transportation domain. These highly trained explosives detection canine teams are a reliable resource at detecting explosives and provide a visible deterrent to terrorism directed towards transportation systems. The explosives detection canine training program is the largest canine explosives detection program in the Dept. of Homeland Security and the second largest in the federal government, after the Dept. of Defense.
The TSA training teams consist of transportation security inspectors, and local or state law enforcement officers who are paired with explosive detection dogs working at airports, cargo facilities, and other mass transit facilities across the nation. TSA provides and trains the dog, the handler, and provides training aides and explosive magazines, and conducts annual on-site canine team certifications.
James FitzGerald is the Assistant Federal Security Director for Inspections with the Transportation Security Administration based at JFK International Airport. In a recent interview with Metropolitan Airport News, he spoke of the origins of the TSA’s Explosive Detection Canine Program at airports, “TSA canine operations at airports began in 2010 when a mandate was given to screen cargo on commercial flights. With the infrastructure and equipment not yet in place, the TSA set up the canine program to assist in the screening of cargo. By 2015 with all the equipment, the training, and everything needed to screen cargo in place, the TSA moved canine operations from cargo areas to airport terminals where we have our own teams concentrating on screening passengers and their accessible property. The cargo screening has since been relegated to 3rd-party TSA-certified canine detection groups contracted to assist agencies, although we are still always there when needed. “
FitzGerald remarked, ‘’Canine detection gives us two things…it gives us another layer of security, and not only does it help out with our effectiveness in helping us with our mission to detect deadly or dangerous items coming into the area and aboard aircraft, but it also helps us out with the customer experience by making the process of air travel a little more streamlined and efficient. From that standpoint, the community loves it, because it helps out with trying to get people from one side of the public area into the sterile area, and it is such an effective tool. Most people really like dogs, for the most part, but some people may be apprehensive culturally-wise, so we make provisions for them to go around the dogs.”
The Training
Conventional explosives detection canine handlers undergo an 11-week training course, and passenger screening canine handlers undergo a 16-week training course. Canine teams graduate from the TSA canine course after demonstrating proficiency in various venues, inclusive of all transportation environments, including airports, terminals, baggage, freight, and cargo facilities. Once a team graduates from the training program, they return to their duty station to acclimate and familiarize the canine to their assigned operational environment. Each team is continually assessed to ensure the canines demonstrate operational proficiency in their environment including four key elements: the canine’s ability to recognize explosives odors, the handler’s ability to interpret the canine’s change of behavior, the handler’s ability to conduct logical and systematic searches, and the team’s ability to locate the explosives odor source.
Located at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in San Antonio, Texas, the $12 million Canine Training Center includes 25,000 square feet of space with seven classrooms, office space that accommodates 140 employees, and a 100-seat auditorium. There are 17 indoor venues on the premises that mimic a variety of transportation sites and modes. In relation to airports, this includes a cargo facility, an airport gate area, a checkpoint, a baggage claim area, the interior of an aircraft, an air cargo facility, two mock terminals, and open area searches venues for air scenting. Kennels can accommodate approximately 350 dogs. Canine breeds in the program, include German Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers, German Short-haired Pointers, Wirehaired Pointers, Vizslas, Belgian Malinois, and Golden Retrievers. Approximately 83 percent of canines graduate from the training program.
“It’s a grueling training and certification process,” said FitzGerald, ‘’Every year our dogs have to go through a certification process and it’s intensive and tough. It could be very stressful for the teams, but that’s for a reason, because these dogs have to be on point every day, both the canine and the handler. We are constantly training to be proficient at detecting explosives, and that’s what we do to make sure their training is on par with any working canine explosion detection team in the country, if not the world.”
Today, there are more than 1,000 TSA-certified canine teams deployed nationwide that are tasked with screening passengers and cargo, and supporting other security missions. In 2019, there were more than 300,000 canine utilization hours throughout the nation’s transportation system. Canine teams work at more than 100 of the nation’s airports, mass-transit and maritime systems and are a highly mobile and efficient explosives detection tool to deter, detect, and respond to threats throughout the nation’s airports and transportation environments.
The mantra of the National Explosives Detection Canine Program has gone on to be an intel, risk-based organization. It is not one-size fits all. An intelligence officer briefs FitzGerald and the Federal Security Director’s office on a daily basis to address emerging threats and to give them a feel for where resources may need to be redirected, or to change up a policy or procedure. “Threats are always evolving and we have to evolve with that threat,” explained FitzGerald, “we really use the dogs to help us do that too, to thwart the biggest threats in aviation security by adding an extra layer of security. The dogs do a great job, and I am very proud to be associated with the program.”
GardaWorld Federal Services (GWFS) is a premier 3rd-party provider of Explosive Detection Canine (EDC) services for the Department of State and the Department of Defense (DOD). With over two decades of training expertise, GWFS’ TSA-Certified Canine Teams and Certified Cargo Screening Program-K9 (CCSP-K9) provides detection services to airports, air cargo, and aviation environments. Their program provides expert canine training and prepares verified canine teams for cargo screening in freight forward, express sort, and heavy freight shipping, providing effective detection solutions to airports, air cargo, and the aviation industry.
Rebecca Deer is GWFS’ Manager of Canine Business Development. With a specialization in aviation security, she began her career with another canine provider prior to the release of TSA’s Third-Party Canine Program (3PK9) and defined the footprint of their program. Deer has since supported the rollout of the 3PK9 screening deployments for the largest express shippers, IACs, and freight forwarding clients at over 200 screening locations throughout the country.
Deer recently spoke with Metropolitan Airport News about Garda World’s 3PK9 program, explaining how GWFS offers all types of canine detection solutions for the aviation industry, specifically for aviation aircraft and air cargo that is regulated by the TSA. “Canine detection has been around the security industry for over 30 years. It is always evolving as the science behind it grows. What canines can do for aviation is to provide peace of mind. They secure physical buildings, your actual airport, and can screen baggage, people, all types of goods, typically narcotics, cash detection (counterfeit money), and lithium batteries, which has presented itself as a new threat in the air cargo industry, especially if they are not declared correctly, because lithium ion batteries, which are rechargeable, have proven to be a fire hazard. So, canine detection is a solution for all kinds of things; aircraft, cargo and mail. It’s a solution for an entire industry, one that you can make malleable to whatever threat there is. One of the biggest factors in the use of canine detection is that they are mobile and can respond to any specific odor; so, if a dog is screening an explosive, or any specific odor that they are imprinted on, or trained to find, as long as it is exercised and sustained, it is incredibly accurate. Canine olfactory capabilities are more reliable than x-ray, ETD, or trace machines in security”.
GWFS canines are typically sourced at around 1 ½ to 2 years old, so as to make sure that they are mature enough to begin training for imprinting. The process of beginning imprint training depends on what each dog is going to be searching for and it initially takes four weeks, with additional timelines for other certifications that they may undergo. With temperament as a factor, GWFS employs breeds that are traditionally used for canine detection work: German Shepherds, German Shorthaired Pointers, Labrador Retrievers. “If you’re going to have canine screening in a passenger line, a Labrador will most likely be used since they are people-facing. If the screening is going to be in a cargo area, or a very busy, loud, high-drive environment, a different breed might be used, like a German Shepherd or Malinois,” said Deer
Dogs may be sourced from breeders, or those dogs who have not passed certification for other types of service may recruited for the type of security work that GWFS canines do…, such as a guide dog candidate that is too active, or high-strung for that particular type of job. There are specific behaviors and temperaments that they look for, to ensure that there is a good fit for the dog’s natural behavior and his or her quality of life.
Handlers generally have a military or a law enforcement background, preferably in canine handling, although that is not required. Candidates of this caliber, who possess these skills, have experience in dealing with the kind of high threat environments and detection of threatening materials.
When GWFS sources a canine and then sources a single purpose/single handler they start in the training class and basically pair handlers to canine teams based on the handler’s personality, the dog’s temperament, and how they work together. They are then certified either under the TSA program or another 3rd party program. Hence, the dog lives with his/her handler and they are not kept in kennels 24/7. At the end of the day, dog and handler go home together and they play and enjoy a normal life when they are not working.
Depending on the service the canine is contracted to perform, canines can be used as a psychological deterrent. “A lot of times they can be used for a perimeter sweep of a building and as a visible security measure. So, if you see a bomb-sniffing dog outside, or a drug-detection canine team, where narcotics are a threat, that can be a psychological deterrent. In areas where they’re working actively with aircraft or an airport terminal, or in searching cargo in big warehouses, it brings a lot of candor and joy to people,” said Deer, “In my experience a lot of people enjoy having canines in the facility, and it’s a way to guarantee that there are secure measures in place, but it also makes it fun and a little light-hearted. Everyone’s goal is security so it’s just another way to achieve that.”
The average career- span of a detection dog is accessed at around the age of eight, but some of them love working where they can, to about 9-years old. But generally, 8-years old is their retirement age. After retirement, the handler is given the choice to adopt the dog, or depending on circumstances they may be adopted out to the public. As a 3rd-party provider, GWFS may contract directly with airlines, or anyone with an active aircraft, passenger and cargo aircraft, or any of the shipping/logistics companies…anyone who really needs a screening service. Some screening may be done under the TSA program, of which GWFS is certified, as a solutions provider to do. “We would work with the Port Authority, or other airports to facilitate screening on airport property, if that applies, but we do not specifically contract the Port Authority,” said Deer,
“We like to say that canines can be used as a solution to a variety of things, so we’re trying to cultivate a true aviation solution to people, not just a TSA dog, or a narcotics dog, but how can we create layered security solutions for anyone at the airport and help build whatever that looks like for them. And another plus is that dogs are happy to be there doing their job…and they are cuter than an x-ray machine.”
