Chapter 21 Conditions and Rehabilitation of the Working Dog 533different methods to assist with optimal
musculoskeletal and neurological recovery.
Rehabilitation equipment can be constructed
from just about anything as long as the thera-
pist has the right mindset and a touch of crea-
tivity. If no underwater treadmill is available in
the winter, soft snow of various heights for
walking and trotting exercises can be used.
Smaller dogs can use in-home bathtubs (or in
one case, the bathtub in a fire station). The
slanted roof of an old dog house at a sled dog
kennel was used as a replacement for a phys-
ioball and a disc. A racing sled with gangline
and empty harnesses attached can be used
instead of cavaletti. Wobble boards can be made
from dowels or PVC and small pieces of ply-
wood. The key to creative equipment design is
to make sure that materials are free from splin-
ters, sharp components, and toxic coatings.
Terrain should be inspected to ensure that the
footing is appropriate and free of embedded
hazards.
Working disciplines
This is a brief overview of some of the work-
ing dog disciplines, organizations, and agen-
cies in the United States at the time of writing.
Sometimes there is overlap between disci-
plines as many dogs are trained to be dual or
multipurpose.
Detection
Detection dogs are specially trained to detect
and indicate the presence and position of speci-
fied substances. There are already many types
of detection dogs and the list continues to grow;
many are used by federal, regional, and local
law enforcement agencies. The USDA obtains
dogs from regional rescues and shelters. Other
agencies purchase dogs from local and/or
international sources. Detection dogs work by
bracketing odor gradients, both ground and
airborne (each dog is different), and must be
able to do so in various types of terrain and
environments (Figure 21.10). Most regional
detection dogs are trained to Police Officer
Standardization Training (POST) certification
standards.
Detected scents and common federal
agencies
● Drugs: Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
● Currency: Treasury, Customs and Border
Protection (CBP)
● Concealed humans: CBP, Transportation
Security Agency (TSA)
● Explosives (standard, vapor wake): TSA’s
National Explosives Detection Canine
Training Program (NEDCTP), Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF)
● Plant protection and quarantine (PPQ): US
Department of Agriculture (USDA), US
Border Patrol (USBP), Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (APHIS), US
Customs and Border Protection Office of
Field Operations (USCBP OFO), National
Detector Dog Training Center (USDA, 2017)
● Wildlife: US Fish and Wildlife Service
(USFWS)—wildlife and exotic animal
smuggling, location of wildlife in wilder-
ness (Cristescu et al., 2015; Orkin et al., 2016)
● Forensics: firearms, weapons, articles
● Arson: accelerants
● Search and rescue: technically SAR dogs are
detection dogs since they are specifically
seeking human scent (alive or dead).
However, due to the unique environmental
nature of the work, they are covered here as
a separate type of working dog
● Cancer (Hackner et al., 2016; Jezierski et al.,
2015)
● Medical: seizures, diabetesFigure 21.10 Detection dogs are trained to detect and
indicate the presence of specified substances. They work
by bracketing odor gradients and must be able to
function in a variety of environments. Source: Photo
public domain—USMC.