The Vapor Wake detection-training program for Auburn University and AMK9 features a highly structured, 18-month process for the participating dogs.
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3-4 weeks old: A microchip is implanted, and the puppy is named — either by a Canine Performance Sciences staff member at Auburn or a supporter of the program. (A $3,000 donation to CPS brings the right to name one dog; a $5,000 or $10,000 donation gives naming rights to an entire litter.) CPS-named dogs in a litter are named in alphabetical order, similar to the way hurricanes are named.
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7 weeks to 6 months: Dogs are brought in pairs to K-12 schools, playgrounds, retirement homes and parks. They go to new environments and events regularly and build from simple to complex tasks aiming to prepare them for real-world work.
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Prison training is used to give the dogs constant human contact.
Photo by: AMK9 |
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6 months: Each dog moves into one of the five prisons that participate in the program to sharpen their senses and give them one-on-one human contact 24 hours a day.
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1 year: The dogs move to an AMK9 training facility in Anniston, Ala., for an intensive, 10-week vapor-specific syllabus where the dogs learn how to search buildings, luggage, freight, vehicles, stadiums and arenas.
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15 months: Exceptionally high-performing dogs head back to Auburn to be put into the program’s breeding stock. Each remaining dog is paired with a handler for an additional seven-week training course that the dog and individual will complete together.
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17 months: Each dog is delivered to his or her permanent home venue, where the dog-and-handler team completes a one-week on-site training program specific to that venue.
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Each year after that: The dogs must pass a physical exam and a detection-performance test to make sure they remain on point.
— David Broughton
