Pubdate: Sun, 21 Apr 2002
Source: Daily Press, The (WI)
Copyright: 2002 The Daily Press
Contact:  http://www.ashland-wi.com/placed/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/960
Author: A.J. Van Beest

SEE SPOT FIND $20 MILLION IN DRUGS

U.S. Customs Service Looks For Potential K-9s In Ashland

Last year, David Bynum put 75,000 miles on his vehicle during 269 days on 
the road, all in the quest for a few good... dogs.

The United States Customs Service has about 650 K-9s working to detect 
illegal drugs, currency and explosives at 260 ports of entry into the 
country at any given time. Bynum, a Customs officer, is one of four people 
responsible for finding new dogs to maintain the ranks.

The catch is that Customs gets almost all their dogs from the masses 
awaiting adoption or euthanasia at the nation's animal shelters. Bynum and 
his colleagues travel the country stopping at shelters, pounds and humane 
associations - like the adoption center operated by the Chequamegon Humane 
Association near Ashland - and giving likely dogs a chance to strut their 
stuff.

The dogs Bynum and his fellow officers want are typically the cast-offs 
from the pet world; high-energy, destructive dogs that have an insatiable 
urge to fetch. Those dogs rarely work out as pets and are often returned to 
adoption agencies time and again. If everything works out, though, the dogs 
can find jobs and homes with customs officers that use their unique 
abilities every day.

There are a series of hoops the dogs have to go through to become a Customs 
K-9, starting with how they look. Bynum said the service is looking for 
labs, golden retrievers and German shepherds, or mixed-breed dogs that "are 
good representatives" of one of those breeds. The service also uses pit 
bulls, though not in high visibility positions.

Next comes the fetch test. Bynum uses a rolled up towel to test dog's drive 
to fetch. He throws it for the dog a few times and judges the dog's 
reaction. He's looking for a dog that will keep retrieving no matter what. 
The fetches get progressively more difficult. Bynum tests dogs' willingness 
to get the towel from under a vehicle and from under a rug or garbage can lid.

"When I get a dog out of the kennel, I'll stick the towel in my pocket with 
just a little bit hanging out," he explained. "If a dog jumps up and rips 
that out of my pocket, that'll be a really good dog."

If the dog passes that test, it'll go to a contracted boarding kennel while 
Bynum completes the rest of his trip. Then it and the other dogs Bynum 
finds will go to a training center in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains.

There they will undergo a complete medical evaluation, then continue their 
fetch assessment. Bynum said he'll see how a dog performs in an active 
warehouse, an airport and around other kinds of vehicles like semi-trucks.

Only half of the dogs Bynum brings back will make it to the start of 
detector dog training. Of those, only 25 percent will graduate and go to 
work with the Customs Service.

The other seven-eighths of the dogs Bynum finds are not just cast aside, 
however. Many of them will have careers with other agencies that have 
different requirements for their K-9s. Others will be adopted by private 
individuals.

Bynum said the Customs Service is committed to finding high quality homes 
for all the dogs work with.

"We microchip all our dogs," he explained. "We adopted a dog to someone in 
Fort Riley, Kansas. They got tired of him and dumped him, so I drove out 
there and got him. That's how dedicated we are to our dogs."

Once a dog makes it to detector dog school, their instincts and energy are 
honed until they are sniffing, scratching, digging machines. The method the 
Customs Service uses is simple: they saturate a towel with the scent of 
drugs, money or explosives, then use the towel to play with the dog. The 
dog's energy and drive, which made it hard to adopt in the shelter, keep it 
looking for its toy in ever more difficult hiding spots.

"When a dog is out working in the field," Bynum said, "it doesn't say to 
itself, 'Oh, boy! There are drugs there!' It thinks it's going to get its 
toy. That's why it works so hard."

Customs dogs live the good life during their working years and after they 
retire. While they are active K-9s, the dogs live in specially built, 
secure facilities that keep them safe from people who might wish them ill. 
When they retire, they usually go home with their human partner to live out 
the rest of their life in peace.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens