Coast Guard Dog Training

The Coast Guard uses specially bred dogs as part of the Coast Guard's Maritime Safety and Security Team (MSST). They may be used to screen ferries and passengers at ports as well as to reduce the introduction of dangerous explosives or weapons into maritime transit systems. It takes a special dog to fulfill the requirements needed to go through the training to become a member of the Coast Guard K9 unit and a special person to be its handler.

  1. Types of Dogs Used

    • Not just any dog can be used for the Coast Guard. It takes a special breed with special qualities. The Coast Guard uses dogs from the Auburn Canine Detection Center. They use sporting dogs, particularly labs, due to their keen sense of smell as well as a friendly temperament that allows them to work well around people. Coast Guard canines are bred specifically for this purpose and they spend their first year as puppies being socialized and given general obedience training with inmates of Corrections Corp. of America prisons in Florida and Georgia, who have been specially trained to work with the puppies. The dogs used to live with area families until the success rate of dogs with inmates was shown to be three times higher. The dogs are then returned to the Canine Detection Center for specialized training and work with their Coast Guard guardians.

    Coast Guard Dog Teams

    • According to the Coast Guard Compass, the Official Blog of the Coast Guard, there are 15 canine teams in the Coast Guard. Each team is made up of one guardian and one dog. Two teams are then placed at every Deployable Operations Group (DOG) unit and one team at Sector New York. DOG units include MSST Seattle, MSST San Francisco, MSST LA/LB, MSST Galveston, MSST Kings Bay, MSST New York and MSRT Chesapeake. Coast Guard dog teams at these ports will inspect and investigate incoming vessels and passengers as needed to maintain safety at U.S. ports.

    Canine Substance Detection Program

    • Around one year after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Coast Guard launched the Canine Substance Detection Program. This was part of the national strategy for Homeland Security. The purpose of this program is to use Coast Guard dogs to help protect the maritime environment, adjacent lands and waterside installations. The Coast Guard canine teams are used in maritime ports, waterways and shoreline facilities to help ensure safety of those on the vessel and to prevent illegal or dangerous substances from exiting those vessels and coming into the United States.

    Coast Guard Canine Officers

    • The guardian is just as important to the team as the K-9 himself. Coast Guard Canine Officers as well as the dogs are trained at Auburn University Canine Detection Training Center. This training is intended to provide them with the capability to deploy on land, sea and air with their dogs. The canine training includes introducing the animals to different types of working environments that they may see while in service. Officers are trained to instruct and guide the dogs so that they may accurately do their jobs in these maritime situations.

    Benefits

    • The Coast Guard dog-training program has many benefits that have made a difference in homeland security. A dog can do a search and sniff out danger in a fraction of the time it would take a human to search. A dog can also determine whether a package or an area is safe much faster than any other method. This saves precious time that can be used elsewhere.