Explosives Detection

One of the most powerful and productive tools ever enlisted in law enforcement is the canine. Their superior detection ability allows a canine to conduct a thorough search of a large area for explosives in a very short period of time while protecting the safety and security of their handler and the public at large.

The best detection teams start with the highest quality dogs. The majority of our dogs are imported Belgian Malinois; German Shepherds and retriever breeds. We believe that a dog must have the right traits from the start andwill not attempt to instill these qualities in substandard animals. This assures you the dog we provide you will always perform at an exceptional level. All dogs are put through a rigorous screening process. We personally hand select all of our Dogs from Europe.

As the quality of the dog handler is equally important to those of the dog, we will train your personnel in proper canine handling and working techniques. As the synergy of the team is tantamount to its performance, we will assurethat your chosen handler performs to the highest standard and the team performs optimally prior to release of the dog. We will provide you with an in-service training maintenance program to assure that your canine unit operates at maximum proficiency as well as provide refresher training annually. We willassess the quality of your existing dog teams and advise your of our recommendations for maximizing efficiency and effectiveness.

All US K9 detector dogs are trained with our own proprietary techniques. Our hand selected importedcanines are highly motivated, intense searchers that demonstrate a strong positive indication by passive response. All of our detection canines are trained using actual odors, not pseudo odors. A handler education course and manual is included with every detector canine. Length of handler training is a three week course including classroom as well as practical application in the field. With regards to which aids we recommend use, according to the best practice guidelines teams should be certified on (Canine Standards International) (and training with) explosives of most interest to their agencies, with representation from the five major chemical classes. Some examples are as follows:

Regular training is a fundamental necessity to ensure proper performance of these teams. It is arguably the most critical success factor not just for bomb dogs, but all types of detection canines. Teams that train religiously on average outperform those that do not. We also recommend that teams periodically train in conjunction with other handlers/agencies. The benefits are peer-to-peer support/camaraderie, feedback, exposure to new training aids, methods, search locations and scenarios, and ultimately cross-fertilization of ideas.
US K9 UNLIMITED, INC., is currently working with a Government explosive research contractor, to further the development of canine technology in the area of explosive and chemical detection for unique Government applications.

Project For The US Governement

Due to a manufacturing error, a percentage of several thousand component of classified product was suspected to contain trace levels (as low as 0.02 g) of a contaminant that, if left in the component, could result in the spontaneous explosion of the component. The high cost made it desirable to find a non-destructive means of identifying only the contaminated component. This would allow the Government to have the manufacturer tear down and rework only those components that were defective. As explosives typically have extremely low vapor pressures, the Government was aware that this would be a seemingly impossible task to accomplish. Several state-of-the-art laboratory instruments, such as the FAA's Gas Chromatograph with an Electron Capture Detector (GC-ECD), electronic sniffers, and Computer Tomography were researched for this application. While these instruments could detect low levels of the contaminants in the laboratory, none were capable of detecting trace amounts in the component.

U.S.K-9, using its proprietary training techniques, successfully trained Lazer within a very short period of time to accomplish the Government requirement. Upon completion of training, the Government submitted Lazer to a rigorous qualification test with actual component to determine his accuracylevel. Lazer was qualified to detect 0.02g of contaminant in a fully loadedround at the 99.5% confidence level. The detection level was 2 to three parts per trillion. He is the only canine certified by the Government to perform this component screening. US K9 received a commendation from the US Government for this effort.