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Drug dog training is an important component in law enforcement and in the crackdown of illegal drugs. Dogs who receive this special type of training do so at a steep price to the US taxpayers. However, these dogs are invaluable to the police and worth every penny that goes into their extensive training. As part of the K9 unit they become part of the fraternal order of police and are loved and respected for their service.

The method for drug dog training usually is based around the dog’s innate nature to play and please his master. A loved toy is used as a hide and seek prop for the dog to find. The toy is hidden in plain view at the beginning and when it is retrieved the dog is rewarded with a treat for retrieving the toy. The toy is hidden in more remote locations as the dog progresses and continues to find the toy.

Once the dog can find his toy at will, the toy is attached to some type of illegal drug like marijuana. The dog begins to associate the smell of the drug with his toy; the intended effect of transference is thus starting to take place. Eventually the toy will be eliminated and the drugs will be the main purpose of the search for the dog. The dog may be trained to locate many types of illegal drugs, not just marijuana.

The reason drug dog training is feasible is that dogs have an incredible sense of smell. It has been established that certain dog species have a scent ability that is one to ten million times as sensitive as humans. With this natural ability it is no wonder that dogs are so effective at sniffing out any type of illegal drugs for which they are trained.

Drug dog training also involves the method of masking the illegal drug scents with other scents. Because drug traffickers are aware that dogs have such a keen sense of smell, they often try to trick the dogs by mixing other scents with their drug shipments. Strong coffee smells are often used to try to throw the dogs off the drug search trail. This tactic usually fails because the drug dogs have been trained to be suspicious of all types of unusual scents.

If the US is ever going to win the war against illegal drugs entering our shores, drug trained dogs will be at the heart of the process. There simply has not been any method more successful than using properly trained dogs. Until, or if ever, there is a manmade method to interdict the flow of illegal drugs, man’s best friend will be the hardest working, least paid, most effective public servant that we can utilize.