Canines to the Rescue, Part 3: Can that dog hunt?
By Brett Martinez

Author Note: This the third article in FireRescue magazine’s rescue canine Web series. Part 1 discussed the type of K-9 teams currently deployed in the field, while part 2 focused on what’s required to start a K-9 team.

In this final installment, I’ll focus on the question that many unfamiliar with canines try to answer: Can that dog hunt? In other words, I’ll focus on how to determine whether the K-9 team arriving at your incident can perform the required task(s) at hand. Although this may sound simple, it can be a challenge.

Because uninvited responders (with good and bad intentions) arrive at incidents every day, you must have a plan to deal with them. Sometimes uninvited responders offer vital assistance, and sometimes they complicate an already chaotic situation. The objective here is to clear the vagueness and focus on the facts regarding why they should respond, what they’re trained to do, who certified them and how they can work with you and not against you.

If you don’t ask these questions, you may expect the K-9 team to perform a task that it’s unable to complete. Many people don’t understand that fire/rescue K-9 teams involve only single-purpose canines. In other words, bomb dogs don’t search for wildland arsonists, and water-rescue canines don’t conduct accelerant searches. It’s critical for all fire/rescue personnel to understand this before any K-9 team arrives on scene. Remember: Always inquire, “What is the canine trained and certified to do?”

Once again, this may seem like a simple question, but the answer may not always be a simple one. In this article, I’ll try to help clarify what to look for and how to decode the vague answers you may receive from K-9 teams.

In the simplest terms, I’ll discuss K-9 team certification as a means to determine whether that dog can or cannot hunt.

The Certification Issue
The best way to determine whether a K-9 team is capable of performing the required assignment is for all K-9 teams to adhere to a national credentialing system similar to the system used by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) for credentialing wildfire personnel and incident command system (ICS) staff.

Efforts have been made by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to classify many search and rescue (SAR) teams, along with ICS staff positions; however, although this “typing” has produced guidelines, establishment of national certification hasn’t been accomplished outside the wildfire arena. Instead, federal agencies allow state and local jurisdictions to certify K-9 teams. Although some privately owned, national organizations have developed certification programs and some credentialing, they aren’t mandated by any federal or state laws, so their validity cannot be confirmed.

Currently, only K-9 teams trained by federal agencies receive federal certification. And although states are allowed to certify K-9 teams, only 13 currently certify law-enforcement K-9 teams.

How K-9 Teams Work
So, how do we certify non-federal K-9 teams? The best way would be to develop the foundation for a national K-9 team certification program that can be presented to FEMA. But the quickest way to achieve this goal is to ensure that everyone in the fire/rescue service understands how K-9 teams work.

The canines generally associated with fire/rescue don’t perform bite work or protective functions; instead, they’re known for their olfactory senses or more simply, their sense of smell.

Unlike patrol or sentry canines, the No. 1 task of fire/rescue service canines is odor recognition. Within that realm, the canine is judged by how well it can detect specific odors. And unlike canines assigned to law enforcement, some fire/rescue canines are required to work in environments unique to our industry. Therefore, just as we must constantly train to work in extremely hostile environments, so too must our canines train to work under similar conditions.

Why Certify?
Due to recent requirements for fire/rescue personnel to comply with National Incident Management System (NIMS) training, there has been a national trend toward standardizing public safety functions. This trend has also started to affect all related public safety training—as well as canine detection—by moving it in the direction of national typing. This movement in the canine field should be considered a positive for public safety personnel because standardization and certification will ensure the teams receive sufficient training and will allow responders to immediately know that the K-9 teams deployed have met national standards to detect specific odors. It will also remove any guesswork about what a canine can and can’t detect during the event. Significant events are all about making order out of chaos and confusion. Any opportunity to remove guesswork and confusion at an event should always be capitalized on, and national K-9 certification will help us achieve that goal.

Setting Standards
Before any K-9 team can be certified, it must be thoroughly trained in a specific discipline, such as water rescue; however, depending on the team’s discipline, it may take months or years before it’s mission-capable. They must train and/or operate constantly with the personnel given the same assignment, and they must constantly update their training aides or odors as new challenges arise. But who should be involved and what should they be doing to ensure the proper standards are set to help teams become fully functioning and certified?

One pitfall that must be avoided: allowing anyone who has little to no dealing with K-9 units in the field to set the agenda and standards. In the 1990s, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standard for Accelerant Detection Canines was established by laboratory forensic scientists with little to no field experience; none of them were field-certified accelerant detection canine (ADC) handlers or trainers.

At the time, this error was based on an influx of non-certified ADC teams being deployed into the field without any national oversight. It has taken years to correct this problem, and because of the failures of a limited few, greater restrictions were placed on the responsible ADC programs.

Looking to EDCs
A better way to proceed toward a national standard is to take a page from the explosives detection canine (EDC) field. In 2004, the National Association of Bomb Squad Commanders approached the federal government to request that a national standard and certification process be determined for EDCs. This was not a far reach for the bomb squad commanders because all of their bomb technicians are required to meet their set national standard and certification to render safe devices. In their line of work, all equipment and training is standardized so that any bomb tech can be deployed to any other jurisdiction and operate with other bomb techs.

Currently, the EDC units are working with federal agencies to create a national certification program for EDC teams. The fire/rescue service should be thinking along similar lines. By pursuing the issue with the proper federal agencies (such as ATF, DHS and the USFA) as well as national fire and rescue organizations, such as the IAFC and the IAFF, we will have a direct say in the formation of and procedures for setting national standards and certification.

Don’t Revert Back!
If federal, state and local agencies don’t pursue the idea of setting a national standard, the same thing that occurred with the National Incident Management System standards and with wildland ICS standards will occur with canine certification. In other words, the federal government will revert back to the organizations that they have direct control over or direct affiliation with to produce and/or adopt their methods, even though there may be better concepts and/or systems out there.

The federal government was comfortable with the wildland firefighting ICS concept because they had been working with it directly for 30 years. It was much easier to adopt the system that was in place and had an established level of comfort as opposed to developing and adopting a system that was unfamiliar or unknown to all levels of the national government.

There’s little doubt that a K-9 team brings unique capabilities to an event. Unfortunately, if we allow K-9 teams to operate on blind faith, the potential for failure during critical operations will only increase. And due to growing demand, the potential for “inferior products,” or untrained and uncertified teams, grows with the arrival of every new K-9 team (as demonstrated by an influx of uncertified ADC teams that occurred in the 1990s, which gave the discipline a bad name for many years.)

The fastest way to lose consumer confidence for canines is for fly-by-night groups to take shortcuts and avoid the required training that makes K-9 teams successful.

The following is a list of those guidelines, which were originally developed 20 years ago by a well-respected K-9 trainer and fire investigator to determine if canine evidence should be introduced into court. Retired Sergeant James Butterworth of the Connecticut State Police Canine Unit provided the majority of these indicators to me early in my canine career. Note: The guidelines and subsequent questions have been updated to suit today’s K-9 team deployment requirements.

• Always question the uninvited or self-dispatched responders. K-9 teams must work within the command structure from the start. If a K-9 team shows up and begins to deploy without checking in with command, question it immediately. If the handler attempts to enter the scene by dropping names or stating that “so-and-so said it was OK,” ask the questions listed at the end of this article.

• K-9 teams on deployment (not at requested demonstrations) should not conduct meet-and-greet sessions with the media or the general public. Sadly this has occurred during numerous occasions. Canines must be rested immediately to allow for readiness at the next deployment. Most K-9 teams deploy for 20 to 45 minutes or search a specified geographic area or space. During that search, the canine will work their olfactory senses, brain capacity and physical motor skills at 100 percent. Canines cannot keep that tempo indefinitely, therefore, after a search, the canine is allowed to rest for a time that’s usually equal to or longer than the deployment time. In some cases, weather conditions and terrain may dictate longer rest periods. Canines should not spend their rest time with their handler as they conduct interviews or pick up dates. No public relations work is allowed.

• To promote K-9 team training programs, use local media outlets. There’s always a time and place for promotion, such as during training or recertification, but deployments and incidents is not one of those times. Individuals who are more concerned about interviews than search requirements should be questioned.

• The general appearance of the canine and handler should be noted before allowing deployment. Note the canine’s physical features, such as weight, mobility, balding spots, or festering wounds—signs that indicate a lack of proper canine healthcare. This is also true for the K-9 handler. Health maintenance of the team is key to continued service. Injured canines and/or handlers should not be operational. In addition, it should be pointed out that canine duty can interfere with the handler’s family life and personal freedom. These animals cannot be placed in a box and forgotten until the next job. Any sign of physical issues with the canine or handler should trigger you to ask the key questions listed in the following section.

• Along with the physical features, observe the age of the canine. The majority of canines don’t enter service until they are 1 to 2 years old. Most are retired by 10 or 11. If the animal appears to be a puppy, deployment should be questioned. Also note if the dog has gray fur around its muzzle or ears, cloudy eyes or a lack of alertness to strange sounds. Any of these features should raise concern.

The Key Questions
Even if the above guidelines don’t raise concern, it’s not a bad idea to ask the following questions when any K-9 team arrives at your incident:
1. Whom do they work for specifically?
2. How long has the K-9 team been in service?
3. How old is the canine?
4. Where did the K-9 team receive its initial training?
5. What is the canine certified to detect?
6. With whom do they train?
7. When did the K-9 team last recertify, and with what group?

Disqualifying Answers
If any of the following statements/answers are given by handlers, further questioning is required; in many cases, you will need to immediately disqualify them as a deployable team:
• “My dog can work anytime, anywhere.” This statement or ones like it should indicate to command staff that further questioning is required.

• “Faith in a partner is required, but every team has its limitations.” The handler should be able to express these limitations and the ground rules for optimal search deployment. If the handler doesn’t convey limitations or ground rules, or if they don’t know the canine’s limitations, this is a recipe for failure.

• Regarding the question of certification, if the team isn’t certified or the K-9 handler “doesn’t believe in certification” or in working with professional K-9 organizations, because some discriminate against volunteers or their particular method of training. Other handlers may report that “some K-9 evaluator tried to confuse their dog.” If the handler makes either of these statements, this is cause for immediate concern.

Professional K-9 handlers are highly motivated team players. This motivation translates into having a positive relationship with other K-9 handlers and public safety professionals. Answers that indicate that the team doesn’t play well in the sandbox will be in direct conflict with the majority of K-9 units, as well as most fire/rescue personnel.

Further, if any of the key questions are continually answered with “no one,” “myself” or “we can find everything,” or if the handler indicates the dog is more than 10 years old, refuse the team’s services. You can also contact the K-9 team’s command unit or agency that has jurisdiction over them to find out the answers to the questions asked. But if the team has no command or specified jurisdiction, refuse their services.

A Final Note
My hope in writing this article is to inform fire/rescue personnel on some of the basics regarding our industry’s K-9 team assets and the importance of establishing a national certification system. Without one, we may be putting the lives of victims, canines and rescuers at risk. Hopefully, this will inspire more of us to research the issues presented and push for national standards and a certification process that will benefit all of us.


Brett Martinez has been certified by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as an accelerant detection canine handler since 1991. He has been a fire marshal with the Suffolk County (N.Y.) Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services for 20 years. He has also been a firefighter with the Hauppauge Fire Department since 1983. Martinez holds an associate’s degree in fire science and is a certified peace officer, Level II fire investigator and Level I fire instructor with New York State. He is also the coordinator of the Suffolk County Arson Task Force and a member of the U.S. Attorney’s Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council in New York.

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