Man’s best terror deterrent? The dog
Cute article.
In the Washington area, the dogs usually are not stationed at the top or bottom of escalators, where each passenger walks by. Some days, the dogs and their handlers walk through the dark tunnels on catwalks. They press flat against the wall when a train whizzes by. When it is time to get on escalators, the dogs look anxious. Their handlers hold up their tails so they do not get caught in the moving stair.
Andy's motivation is basic: the next meal. Once an ATF explosives dog has been trained, he is fed only after he finds an explosive. Three times a day, Andy's handler hides shell casings or explosives in a field, car, building or the woods. Andy, who wears his own police badge, has to "alert" Special Agent Sheila Fry, his handler, when he smells an explosive, by sitting down at the spot. Then she hand-feeds him. She has a small "dog slobber" towel attached to her belt next to her gun.
"We don't like to say he flunked out of seeing-eye dog school. I think of it as more of a career change," Fry said. Andy "couldn't overcome his desire to sniff, track and hunt. He's great at finding explosives."
I love the part about the cops holding the dogs' tails so they don't get caught in the escalator. And the "dog slobber" towel. And that the doggies get their own badges. And the "career change" dog.