Detector Dogs - History
The use of dogs for the detection of illegal substances, such as narcotics and explosives began in the 1960's. By the 1970's government agencies throughout the world were using detector dogs for various specialised tasks.
The Mexican government was the first to use dogs to detect agricultural quarantine items. By the late 70's the USDA (United Stated Department of Agriculture) had developed a similar programme using dogs to search international mail and incoming passenger's baggage at international airports. From 1979 through to 1983 USDA used only large dogs. During this time canine searches were commenced away from the public. After the dogs had proven themselves a viable detection tool consideration was then given for the use of small breeds to work in the presence of the public or along side international passengers. This conceptual shift to use Beagles only trained in a passive manner had enormous implications around the world.
In 1984 USDA embarked on their pilot programme now coined the "Beagle Brigade". This programme was vastly different from any other detector dog programme up to that time. The beagles were trained to work in the presence of the travelling public at the baggage collection points of international airports. They were trained to respond passively, or to sit when indicating agricultural quarantine material, and they were rewarded with food for correct responses. This approach motivated the dogs to a higher level than before, and enabled them to search for longer periods of time without breaking search focus.
The use of Beagles became a focal point for the USDA programme. The Beagle having been chosen due to their long history as a scent hound, and their successful use in the US Navy as narcotic detector dogs, proved immensely popular with the public due to their small non-threatening size. The image of the Beagle likewise captured the media’s attention enabling USDA to undertake extensive and ongoing media campaigns to educate the public on the importance of quarantine work.
Today the beagle has become known as The Agricultural Detector Dog. Beagle Brigade programmes are currently in use in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. As expertise in the training of dogs for such specialised tasks becomes more widely available, expectations are other countries will follow in suit in the vital pursuit for the protection of agriculture from foreign pests and diseases.
The New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Detector Dog Programme began in 1995. The first two passive dog handler teams became operational at Auckland International Airport in April 1996. In 1997 the teams had grown to six at Auckland International Airport and one at Christchurch International Airport. Two active response teams were also implemented at the Auckland Interantional Mail Centre.
Since the early beginnings of the programme there are now 19 passive response detector dog teams staffing all the major International Airports of New Zealand. There are also eight active response dogs based in Auckland covering the International Mail Centre and International Cargo companies. These teams also combine to cover cruise ships that arrive from overseas destinations. At our Kennel Facility in Auckland we have seven dedicated Kennel Assistants.
The MAF Biosecurity Detector Dog Programme (DDP), has a National Training Centre in Auckland for the training and testing of new and existing detector dog teams. This facility can house up to 30 dogs, and also has breeding and whelping facilities. As there are many difficulties sourcing suitable Beagles with the qualities sought to be successful detector dogs, MAF now has a well established breeding programme which has produced many extremely successful working dogs. These dogs are highly sought after both in New Zealand and by the other overseas agricultural detector dog agencies such as Australia, Argentina, Canada, Hawaii and Korea.
New Zealand's Biosecurity Detector Dog Programme has also been instrumental in setting up programmes, supplying dogs and training handlers for other countries such as Argentina Korea, Canada and Hawaii.
Page last updated: 21 October 2009