Picture of the Day: ROK Military’s First Drug Sniffing Dog

Alright! As I clap and rub my hands together in glee. All things detector dog related are right up my wheelhouse, so I’ve been chomping at the bit to comment on this one. But first …

Dude, please get out of that dog’s face! Holy Criminy! Obviously that dog is ‘on odor’ (mouth closed, tail up, body stiff … all the indicators). The handler should be back and to the side (so he can still see/read the dog’s face), relaxed on the leash (one finger), and let the dog work the odor. Let him do his job. It’s a beautiful thing to watch, if you stand back and let it happen. 

By being THAT close, the handler’s exhaling breath is actually disturbing the very air/odor the dog is trying to work. 

Geezuz, I nearly went into a full Grand Mal seizure just looking at that picture the first time. I still have a hard time looking at it. It serves as a perfect example how NOT to be right on top of a dog working an odor. Who trained you? 

CH, mentioned “canine junkie”, but likely didn’t realize there is real history behind junkie dogs, sort of. The concept of training drug detection dogs first started with the LAPD in the early 60s. But they didn’t use a food reward concept like we’ve been using now for decades. No. They shot the dogs up with heroin until they became addicted. The addicted dogs would then have their heroin fixes withheld and in no time start going through withdrawals. A dog suffering withdrawals would go absolutely nuts to find more heroin and could sniff it out no matter how well it was concealed, hidden, masked in coffee grounds, or whatever. It worked great, but there was a downside: it significantly decreased the life of the dogs and was ultimately deemed inhumane.  

Okay. This is for anyone who gets busted on a possession charge where the search warrant was issued based on the “the dog alerted”. Most times, judges will recognize, and based on DA recommendation, a dog alert as sufficient probable cause to issue the warrant. Call me as a defense witness. Knowing how the system works, I will tear the dog team’s training and certification records to absolute shreds. Even a half-assed defense attorney will then prove the warrant was issued based on fruit of the poisonous tree, get all evidence obtained from that warrant thrown out, and (if that’s all the evidence there was) get the case dismissed. Your welcome.