Our detector dogs
Detector dogs or 'sniffer dogs' have been helping to protect the United Kingdom's border against the most determined smugglers since 1978.
Back then the dogs were used only to detect drugs, but our understanding of what they can do and how to get the best results from them has come a long way.
Today, there are 67 operational dogs strategically located across the United Kingdom, keeping an eye - or a nose - on both travellers and commercial imports at airports, ports, international rail stations and postal depots. They have been trained to search for a wide range of goods (including drugs, tobacco, cash, products of animal origin, firearms and even people) that have been concealed inside vehicles and cargo.
Dogs have a very acute sense of smell. This enables them to detect prohibited goods and, more importantly, to pinpoint those goods' exact location by sitting and staring (known as 'passive indication') beside the source of a trained scent.
Detector dogs are highly adaptable, and are trained in all areas of the UK Border Agency's working environment. They can quickly search everything from large consignments of freight and vehicles to travellers' luggage and hard-to-reach places. Their unassuming and friendly nature enables them to quietly mingle among arriving travellers without causing unnecessary annoyance or aggravation.
The dogs work hard all day looking for illegal goods or people, but to them it's just a game of hide and seek. When they find a scent, they are rewarded by their handler through play - usually with a tennis ball.
Training to be a detector dog starts at an early age, usually about a year old. Gun dog breeds such as Labradors and springer spaniels are the first choice, mainly because of their enthusiasm and natural ability to retrieve. Potential dogs come from a variety of sources: the police, rescue centres, gifts from the public and many supplied through established contacts.
Some dog teams are trained in-house by a regional dog inspector who is accredited by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). Others are trained by the Metropolitan Police at its training school in Kent. During an intensive eight-week course, a dog learns how to recognise a specific scent, usually drugs. It then undergoes a further five weeks' training at its new place of work, where it is trained to detect more scents.
All detector dogs live in special-purpose kennels on site or close to their working environment. When it's time for work, they are transported in purpose-built vans that act as mobile kennels.
Typically, a dog will work for about eight years. When it retires, its handler gets the first option of taking their four-legged officer home to live with them, or finding it a suitable good home.
For more than 30 years, these dogs and their handlers have played an important role stopping illegal goods entering the country. They are on the front line helping us to strengthen the border, and will continue to do so for many years to come.