Pubdate: Sat, 07 May 2016
Source: Niagara Falls Review, The (CN ON)
Page: A4
Copyright: 2016 Niagara Falls Review
Contact: http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/letters
Website: http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2907
Author: Cerena Gatila

BORDER DETECTOR DOGS SNIFF OUT SMUGGLERS

Sometimes man's best friend can sniff out trouble that man himself
cannot.

That's the job of the four-legged inspectors that work with the Canada
Border Services Agency's detector dog program.

Through their dogged efforts, the canines sniff out prohibited drugs,
food, firearms, currency, plants and animals being brought into Canada..

At the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, the detector dogs are paired
into teams with their animal handlers.

"I've been a dog handler since December 2011. The whole time, I've
been partnered up with the same partner," said Paul Parkinson, whose
detector dog Sawyer is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever that specializes in
narcotics and firearms detection.

Paul Parkinson

Like a lot of businesses, even contraband detection at the Canadian
border seems to go in cycles. "When it rains, it pours," Parkinson
said.

"You can get a result in search back to back, other times, you go
(searching) in (vehicles) for a few weeks and there's nothing. If
there's nothing, it doesn't matter. It's all impacted by who is and
what is travelling."

The border agency uses passive dogs - different from the aggressive
ones often portrayed doing similar work on TV reality shows. The CBSA
generally employs Labrador retrievers to detect drugs, guns and
currency, and beagles to search for food, plant and animal products.

"On TV a lot of the times, you see the police dogs who bark and
scratch and claw in places where they find the drugs. And those are
called 'active' dogs, which our agency started phasing out in the
early 90s," Parkinson said.

"We use passive dogs. They just stay and sit down at the source of the
odour and they'll pinpoint with their nose. It's less intrusive (and)
it's not going to hurt people."

Active dogs also pose a risk to people who are being inspected, and to
the evidence that is collected.

Having an evidence bag damaged or destroyed by a dog can also destroy
the case against someone found to be smuggling contraband into Canada.

"A lot of times when she sits beside someone, they might just think
'Oh, your dog really likes me.' But we're really going to pull them
aside, because likely they have drugs on them," said Parkinson.

On their days off, he makes sure Sawyer gets some rest.

"They're her days off, just like mine. We were taught that right out
of the get-go from college. She basically just lies around and I
exercise her, but I cut the stimulation out on her days off because
that's her time to relax. I don't want to be playing around with her
at home too much."

The CBSA college where the detector dog teams train is in Rigaud,
Quebec.

"They usually take experienced handlers," Parkinson says, who has been
on the job for 10 years. "They'll run a process and they'll send a few
people up to the college for a two-day assessment and see if you're
worth to be sent to do the full, 10-week program.

"When you take that course, you're paired up with quite a few dogs,
probably two, three or four. They want to see which dog you work best
with, and throughout the college they introduce you (and the dog) to
large odours to get the 'game' down pat and you'll eventually progress
to live ports of entry.

"Most of them are just outside of Montreal, the airport in Montreal
and Ottawa and a lot of jails in Kingston. The bulk of the training is
when you actually search vehicles."

Much of the training is similar for both dog and handler.

"The agency tends to try and get any dog they can get their hands on,"
Parkinson said.

"There isn't a specific breed that they want, but we stay away from
the aggressive breeds, like the (German) shepherds. We want a dog with
a nice level of temperament, but you could probably train any dog to
find anything, be it peanut butter or drugs.

"The trick is to find a dog who will search for a lifetime instead of
a week."

Each dog has its own personality, of course. Some days, said
Parkinson, Sawyer just doesn't feel like searching.

"I have to motivate her somehow, and I use the training hides to do
that. So it's still tough to find a dog that wants to work day in and
day out," he said "Only 10 per cent of the dogs make it out of the
program and get paired up with someone."

Typically, dogs start their training before they turn one year old,
and they can work for eight or even 10 years. In their retirement
years, they can continue living with their handler or be placed in a
home arranged by the handler.

Typically, the dogs start training when they are under a year old and
work for eight to 10 years. If they are still able to work, it is the
handler's choice to get them paired up with a different animal
handler. If they are too old to work, they can live with the handler
or live in a home arranged by the handler.

The CBSA generally employs Labrador retrievers to detect drugs, guns
and currency and beagles to detect food, plant and animal products. 
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