TSA Training Puppies to Sniff Out Explosives / Pet Bloggers Blog Hop

Puppies on their montjly visit to Lackland Air force Base with the Puppywalkers Program

Transportation Security Administration (TSA_ have created a Puppy Program at Lackland AFB. The program trains the puppies so that when they are old enough they can go out in the field and protect us as we travel on planes. The puppies are named in honor of 9-11 and war victims and are raised with volunteer families, called “Puppywalkers,” until they’re a year old. When they have spent the first year of their lives in private homes they learn the basic commands, they are socialized around people and other animals, and then they go back to the base for training to become explosives-detection dogs in airports around the country.

One retired flight attendant who decided to leave the profession after 9-11, she jumped at the opportunity and picked up her family’s new puppy in training in May, shortly after finding out about the Puppywalkers program. The family is currently caring for 5-month-old Eegan, named in honor of Capt. Martin Egan Jr., a firefighter who died at the World Trade Center. The program provides all equipment and food. Once each month for the time the Puppywalkers are raising the puppies they must visit the Air Force Base to get used to the sites, sounds, and smells there and so those in charge of the program can keep an eye on their progress.

The program is made up mostly of Labrador retrievers, and some with a bit of Vizsla bred in. Labradors were chosen because the TSA wants dogs the traveling public will feel comfortable being around.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/community/article/Puppwalkers-get-explosives-sniffing-dogs-off-to-1468333.php#ixzz1StGtS5R2