The training of the handlers takes an additional three to four months "where they learn to read the dog." 
The teams can work together for six to eight years.

There are 700 dogs working mine detection right now.
Nations must now promise that when a dog's working life is through that it will be cared for. 

The dogs, primarily shepherds because potential handlers are familiar with the breed, come from Europe and are between 12 to 18 months old. They usually come from a good working lines.

Right now, there's no better technology to tell you that a field is cleared or an area never had any mines. They provide you with quality assurance that an area is clear to eight centimeters.

Training a mine dog takes about 24 months before dog and handler are ready to work together in an operational field. 
The terrain where the dogs are trained is varied to ensure the dogs gain experience of working in different environments including grassy, wet, dry and sandy ground. 

The training process starts at birth when the puppies commence a socialisation programme and continues through various developmental phases until they are ready for deployment to a live operation when the dogs are about two years old.

The Socialisation Process - 0-6 months
Negative experiences during the socialising period will have an affect on the mutual trust between the animal and other animals or humans.

6 months old
By the time the puppies are six months old they have a high ball drive and will search for their ball or 'kong' in long and short grass using a guided straight-line method for more than 30 minutes. At this age the puppies are not gun-shy, they bond with humans easily, are keen on travelling in vehicles, are becoming used to different environments and have a broad-spectrum of agility.

8-9 months old
The dogs start obedience training at eight months old and begin their formal demining course.
By the time they are nine months old, they are able to search for various explosives and sit and stay. They have developed a correlation between sitting near an explosive and being rewarded with their kong.

12 months old
The dogs are now able to search an area spanning 100 square metres before needing a short break. They can focus on their work despite the distraction of humans, vehicles and low level noises and can focus their searching attention for more than 60 minutes.

14-24 months old
Training begins with dedicated mine dog handlers, bringing the dogs up to a level whereby they are ready for deployment to a live operation.

Why dogs?
Dogs have an acute sense of smell, many times greater than that of a human. With the correct training dogs can be trained to indicate the presence of mines.
Mine detection dogs can smell the explosives in a mine, and can therefore help to quickly establish which areas are safe, and which areas contain mines.  When the dog indicates a landmine, the area is marked so that manual deminers can later check it and destroy the mines.  This way, dogs can reduce the area that needs to be checked manually, which speeds up the process of demining considerably.  However, the training of dogs is expensive and time consuming, and many mine clearance organisations cannot afford them. 

What do the dogs actually do?
Mine detection dogs help out their human handler by sniffing the ground for the explosives in landmines.  They do not actually know they are looking for landmines; it is the smell they are looking for.  When they smell explosives they signal to the handler. Dogs don't actually remove the mines, but they do help to find them.

What types of dogs are used?
Many types of dogs have been trained as mine-detection dogs, German Shepherds and retrievers have proved very successful.

How are the dogs trained? 
Dogs are trained to identify the various types of explosives found in mines. They are taught to sniff the ground and to signal to their human handler any time they smell explosives. 
Training is a careful process. If they miss an explosive in training it's just a mistake, but if they miss an explosive in the field it could be a mine that could injure a deminer, a dog, or an innocent child. Because mine detection dogs are so well trained, very few are killed or injured in the line of duty.

Do dogs like doing this work?
One of the qualifications for a mine detection dog is that it enjoys its job. Dogs receive treats or toys from their handlers when they find explosives and perform well.  Quite simply it is game for them.

Where are mine-detection dogs used?
Mine detection dogs work well in some places and not in others. Factors such as the soil type, terrain and climate all determine whether or not mine detection dogs will work well in a given area. Mine detection dogs have been used extensively in countries including Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia, Croatia and Mozambique, Eritrea, and Sudan.

How much do these dogs cost?
Depending on the dog and the training, it can cost up to £15,500 for a fully trained mine-detection dog. Some of the costs involved in training and maintaining a dog include purchasing the dog, the dog handler's salary, veterinarian bills, dog equipment (leashes, collars, toys), kennels, kennel staff, transportation and training. 
Once a mine detection dog is working, it costs around £400 per month to maintain. 
 
 

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