Future Explosive Sniffing Dogs of the TSA Puppy Program

September 11, 2001 was a wake up call for our country's security agencies that are charged with protecting the public. As the events of 9/11 unfolded, it became evident, detecting hidden explosives was now a priority for the TSA and law enforcement across the country. To produce the number of explosive sniffing dogs that would be needed, the TSA began a program called the Canine Breeding and Development Center, but it's more lovely referred to as the Puppy Program.

The TSA works in partnership with police departments around the country and provides training, funding and dogs for law enforcement agencies through their National Explosives Detection Canine Team Program. Located at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas; law enforcement personnel come from all over the country to take part in a 10 week program called the Explosives Detection Canine Handler Course. Each handler is assigned a dog who was raised and trained in the TSA puppy program and the officers learn how to handle and work as a team with a bomb sniffing dog. After returning home, they are tested 30 - 90 days later in an 11 day evaluation to make sure the dog and his handler have bonded. In order to be an effective working team, it's crucial for the officer and his dog to have a strong bond. A dog who hasn't fully bonded with his handler will be reassigned to someone else. The TSA partially funds law enforcement K-9 units who have gone through the 10 week training program with money for vet care costs, the cost of feeding and caring for the dogs as well as the handler's pay when they are back home.

The puppy program began in January 2002 with the help of the Australian Customs Service National Breeding and Development Center (NBDC). The NBDC provides dogs to law enforcement agencies worldwide. TSA had begun a breeding program in 1999 with 2 males and 6 female dogs that came from the NBDC, but it was 9/11 that proved there was an urgent need to selectively breed puppies whose sole purpose was to detect explosives. The TSA's goal is to raise and train 200 puppies each year to help meet the needs of the National Explosives Detection Canine Team Program and they work in partnership with U.S. dog breeders .

Vizslas, Labs, German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois are the breeds most commonly used because these dog breeds have a high prey drive which makes them ideal for searching out explosives. One important quality a trainer is looking for in a puppy is if he likes to play hide and seek. The puppy who goes in search of his toy when it's been taken away is showing an important personality trait of a bomb sniffing dog and will most likely pass through his training with flying colors as one of our country's most important defenses against hidden explosives.

Training techniques used to teach a dog to search for explosives are the same techniques we use to train our own dogs. Positive reinforcement with lots of praise. The dogs are first taught to sit. Then one by one, new scents are added. The dog is instructed to find the scent and the trainer keeps taking the dog back to the scent until he learns it. The sit command is important because the dog is suppose to sit when he's found one of the scents he was trained to find and this lets the handler know where to look for explosives. You can ask any trainer or law enforcement personnel who has gone through the 10 week training how many scents the dogs have been taught to detect, but they won't tell you. The actual number of scents a dog learns is classified.

To honor those who fell during the terrorist attacks on 9/11, every puppy in the TSA's puppy program is named after one of the victims. A puppy is given either the first, middle or last name of someone who lost their life on that horrible day.

Foster homes in the San Antonio and Austin, Texas area are used to raise the puppies when they are ten weeks old until the pup is a year old. At that time, the puppy enters an explosives detection training program. A foster home is responsible for socializing and nurturing the puppy. Food, medical care, all supplies and equipment are paid for by the TSA puppy program. The pup goes back to the puppy program for a week every month for a week and gets a medical checkup and is monitored to make sure his social skills are progressing.

Not all dogs in the puppy program will grow up to become a bomb sniffing dog. Because dogs are individuals, some don't have the personality for this important work. Any dog who doesn't pass muster is put up for adoption. Most of the dogs are Labrador Retrievers less than a year old. They have been spayed or neutered and have received their vaccinations. There is no adoption fee, but you will have to pay for transportation costs if you're not in the San Antonio or Austin region. As you might guess, there is a waiting list for one of these dogs. Even though they may not be suited for sniffing out explosives, they have received training and make great companion dogs. If you're interested in opening up your home as a foster home or in adopting a dog, click here for more information.

TSA's Puppy Program, Transportation Security Administration

The TSA Puppy Program, The TSA Blog

TSA's National Explosives Detection Canine Team, Transportation Security Administration