Munich (ots). Two new, fully trained sniffer dogs have been working for customs at Munich Airport since the beginning of October.
Ms. Bruckner with 'Dexter' completed the drug sniffer dog training course; Mr. Seehuber with 'Tivoli' completed the “Cash/Tobacco” sniffer dog course. At the same time, Mr. Dantscher completed the customs dog trainer course with 'Nando'. “The head of the main customs office in Munich, Dr. Nusser, congratulated everyone involved on passing the exam and wished them all the best for the future,” said Thomas Meister, press spokesman for the Munich Main Customs Office.
A total of twelve sniffer dogs are in use at Munich Airport, nine of which are narcotics sniffer dogs, two “species protection” sniffer dogs and one “cash/tobacco” sniffer dog. Three additional dog teams are currently in training.
There have been two customs dog schools in Germany since 1958 (ZHSch) at the locations in Bleckede (Lower Saxony) and Neuendettelsau (Bavaria). There the dogs are trained as protection and detection dogs and officials are trained as customs dog handlers. Dog handler training at customs can only take place after two years of middle service training. All in all, training the dog and handler takes on average one to one and a half years. Training to become a customs dog handler is carried out by customs dog trainers.