Landmine Detection Dogs – An Idea Takes Shape

In 1992, I saw a news story on television that changed my life. It was a clip about the ongoing war in Bosnia. It showed an elderly couple dead on the kitchen floor of a farmhouse, while the news anchor spoke about the issues facing civilians, which included extensive land mines.

In the early 1990’s, as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia began to fall apart, a series of wars broke out among constituent states that were each declaring their independence. During these conflicts, large tracts of land were covered in land mines. When the fighting was finished, millions of these mines and other unexploded munitions were scattered across the former battlefields. In Bosnia, for example, it is estimated that nearly 2.5% of the country’s territory is mined.

Unlike enemy soldiers, land mines don’t simply return home when a war has ended. They remain, buried just beneath the surface, littering the fields and forests where civilians work, and where children play.

After watching that newscast, I knew I wanted to help. I spent the next few years making connections in Ottawa and experimenting with different landmine detection dog training methods.  I relished the challenge of mine work, and exploring the effects that different factors, like soil and chemical compositions, might have on a dog’s effectiveness.

Finally, in 1999 I was approached by the Canadian International Demining Corps (CIDC). They wanted me to start a program in Bosnia and Herzegovina that would teach locals how to train and handle demining dogs. It was the opportunity of a lifetime– a chance to help these people while acting as an ambassador for my country in a great cause.

I would spend the better part of the next five years overseas, helping locate mines by training dogs and handlers to accreditation in Croatia, Bosnia and working with my own dogs doing clearance and quality assurance in Kosovo. The experience was incredibly rewarding, and would change the way I saw the world. But detection work isn’t for everyone. It takes patience, stamina, focus, and skill. If a handler is sloppy, or doesn’t follow protocol, they can end up seriously hurt or even killed.

Too many people learn this the hard way.