Preparing Puppies for Patrol

Jan 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By ASHLEY ROE

In some cases, terrorism prevention depends on assets that walk on four legs, hear with floppy ears and smell through wet noses.

At Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, about 100 future members of the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) National Explosive Detection Canine Team Program are added each year through the TSA Puppy Program. Developed in 1999 and modeled after the Australian Customs Service National Breeding and Development Centre (NBDC), the canine breeding program was reborn after Sept. 11th when a heightened need unfolded for explosive detection canines. Using six adult female and two adult male Labrador retrievers donated by the NBDC, the TSA Puppy Program established a breeding colony and produced the first litter three months after the attacks on America. Since January 2002, the program has produced more than 200 puppies selectively bred for the purpose of performing explosive detection in vehicles, warehouses, transportation terminals, luggage facilities and aircraft.

“Our primary breed is the Labrador retriever, which is known for its searching capabilities,” says Scott Thomas, TSA Puppy Program manager. “We're looking for dogs with a high degree of social stability to be in the mass transportation environment.” The program, according to Thomas, could not survive without the scores of volunteer families who agree to raise the pups until they are 1-year-old and help socialize them during the first year of their lives. “At ten weeks of age, we begin looking for foster families in the San Antonio area,” he explains.

Adopting a program puppy is not as easy as signing on the dotted line. Thomas and other program employees visit prospective homes and families and evaluate factors such as the presence of other animals, the privacy of the home and whether or not the family and the puppy are a good match. Foster owners are responsible for providing the puppies with a well-rounded, socialized and nurturing environment, often taking them to public places to familiarize the animals with crowds of strangers. The puppies are returned to the program facility for one week each month for behavioral and medical evaluation and to give feedback to foster owners. “Our foster families are really good people who are very patriotic and understand the importance of this program's mission,” Thomas says.

When the puppies are returned, they are ready to begin their explosives detection training, during which the dogs, alongside local law enforcement handlers, search for explosive decoys in deserted passenger airplanes, subway cars and simulated terminal areas. When the dogs graduate the TSA program, they are assigned to airport and mass transit systems nationwide. “Obviously, we are living in changed times, and we know that we have an enemy,” Thomas says. “To breed a dog for this purpose will continue to keep us ahead of the game.”

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