Canines with jobs – working like a dog

Who’s a good boy?: Timmy, a cocker spaniel and SCDF search dog, is seen with his handler at the Home Team Tactical Centre. — The Straits Times/ANN

Every day, dogs holding real jobs go off to work, much like their human counterparts. They not only provide a service, but they also contribute to the greater community.

We take a peek through the doors at their workplace and even while they are in training, just to see how paw-sitively hard these dogs work for their kibble at the end of the day.

Springer spaniel Yoshi has his nose to the bags on the carousel to detect and find narcotics as they enter Singapore, preventing them from getting to the streets.

On a normal day, he would search several flights. This translates to several thousand bags.

A passive reaction dog, Yoshi sits when he smells a target odour.

Yoshi is part of the 200-strong Police K-9 Unit with the team at Changi Airport working in shifts to provide 24-hour coverage.

A police spokesman said the dogs undergo rigorous training to identify the various drugs, such as marijuana, heroin and methamphetamine. They are trained to detect the drugs in various forms – powder, liquid or hidden within other materials.

“Our dogs have successfully detected controlled drugs, such as marijuana, concealed in luggage. Their ability to quickly and accurately identify the presence of these substances has helped to stop the movement of drugs through our airport,” she said.

And lest you think that this is a thankless task, it is not.

The four search canines from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) deployed as part of Operation Lionheart to conduct search-and-rescue operations after a magnitude-7.8 earthquake in Turkiye in February received a Medal of Appreciation with their handlers on April 25.

Timmy, a golden cocker spaniel, and three Labrador retrievers Jack, Rizzo and Frenchy, were deployed to various sites and worked in cycles of 30 minutes.

Unlike the passive reaction of narcotics dogs, rescue dogs are trained to bark excitedly after picking up the scent of survivors to alert rescuers.

These four canine heroes in Turkiye are part of SCDF’s 16-member pack.

In the Singapore Armed Forces, military dogs are part of the Military Police Command. The Military Working Dog Unit has 65 dogs, which are given basic obedience training at 18 months before undergoing more specialised training as either guard or sniffer dogs. — The Straits Times/ANN