Mine Detection Dogs
From what I could see, mine detection dogs could significantly reduce the cost of demining in Lebanon. There does not seem to be a cultural problem in using dogs (compared with some other countries in the region). There is no local capacity at the moment, but there are many well-educated people who could contribute to building local capacity. Some plant species are prickly at certain times of the year, restricting the use of dogs.
The soils are light, dry and sandy (with limestone rocks) which seem to be good conditions for dogs to work in.
The climate (in the appropriate season) is benign with few environmental risks for the dogs.
Recommendation
In my opinion, of all the technologies considered, mine detection dogs offer the best chance of significant improvements in clearance production rate and quality level. Because of cultural sensitivities and cost factors, the most attractive options to pursue this are:
• A trial of Afghan or Iraqi mine detection dogs (with handlers) in Lebanon. Such a trial should be coordinated with similar trials in Yemen, Egypt and Jordan where similar problems exist and dogs could make effective contributions.
• Investigate whether sufficient dog capacity exists in Lebanese Customs and counter-terrorist organisations to build an indigenous mine detection dog capacity.
Dogs are now used in several countries for mine and UXO clearance operations. Procedures vary from one country to another, but the following general principles apply in all of them.
First, each dog requires extensive training, together with his handler. This is usually done at a combined dog breeding and training centre. The dogs are tested within a few weeks of birth to assess their potential. After a few months, as skills improve, a selected dog will live with his handler 24 hours per day. (This is recommended by most experts but is not always the case.) The dog comes to see himself as another type of human, and the partnership formed with the handler will be a lifelong one. So strong is the bond between handler and dog that if the dog is killed or injured in a mine accident, the handler may be emotionally upset for many months afterwards. The dog becomes acutely sensitive both explosive vapour smells and human behaviour around him. This becomes important in testing the dog's performance later.
Once a dog and his handler reach the required level of performance for field work after about 2 years, they will be assigned to a demining dog field centre. This centre has appropriate accommodation and medical support for handlers and veterinary support for the dogs. The cost up to this stage is about US$8,500, though more recently, it is claimed, the training cost has been reduced to $1200 (in Afghanistan, where typical deminer pay is US$150 per month – costs are substantially higher elsewhere).
Afghanistan Puppy Training Program
1-6 Month Social training and ball play
6-12 months Obedience
12-18 months Ball & explosives
18-20 months Mines
20-22 months Handler
Other training programs use similar techniques, but it appears that each is different.
The dogs work best in dry, clear open country with vegetation no higher than calf to knee height (depending on vegetation and dog abilities). In Afghanistan, dogs are not used in wet conditions, thick vegetation or residential areas where, it is thought, the profusion of strong scents is likely to confuse the dogs.
The dogs will need supplementary training all the time, particularly if they are to work with different mines and/or devices containing different kinds of explosives. There is some debate about the length of training needed to 'convert' a dog to a new type of explosive or mine. In Afghanistan, daily refresher practice is part of the normal schedule, and a major refresher course is scheduled every two months.
The dog's reward for finding explosive is not food. It is a ball — "the Dutch method" — and this seems to be common to Afghanistan, South Africa, USA (Ronco) and European trained dogs. It is the appreciation and excitement of the handler which rewards the dog. Affection and food are always provided by the handler. Since finding explosives is, for the dog, a game or form of entertainment, the dog's performance will depend on his mood and level of interest in playing. On some days, a particular dog may not feel like playing (or may be unwell), in which case other dogs will be needed. Naturally, if the handler is not well, the dog cannot work. After some time, usually between 1 and 2 hours, the dog will be bored and will need some time to recover his interest in the 'game'.
A clearance task for dogs is set up by manual demining (which may require hand prodding if minimum metal mines cannot easily be detected by metal detectors). The manual deminers will clear safe access lanes (usually a metre wide) around the task area. The width of the task (across the wind direction) must be no longer than the length of the leash on the dog. In Afghanistan this is 8 metres. In Bosnia 10 metre and 15 metre lengths are common.
Another reason for manual clearance around the task is to check for tripwires. Some dogs have been trained to find tripwires, but there is disagreement on whether they can do this safely, particularly if the tripwire is extremely thin, or half buried under fallen vegetation. Since the average tripwire is 15-20 metres long, the size of any area to be checked by dogs must be less than this. In instances where short tripwires are encountered, dogs should not be used.
The dog is introduced to the task and commanded by the handler to traverse the upwind edge of the task. The handler then steps about 60 cm sideways, and the dog performs another traverse, and so on. If one dog completes an entire task area (see diagram), another dog is introduced with his handler and again checks the same task area. If neither dog indicates explosives, the task area is declared to be safe and clear.
A dog is trained to indicate the presence of explosive by calmly sitting a short distance from the location where the scent was discovered. When any dog indicates, the location is marked by placing markers on the edges of the task area. If this is the first dog, another dog will be introduced and will traverse the area up to the indicated location again. Manual deminers can safely approach the location across ground which has been 'cleared' by both dogs. Maybe the second dog will indicate a location which was missed by the first dog. In this case, it is this location which is checked first by manual deminers.
In Afghanistan, procedures require deminers to check an area 2 metres square around the location point, to a depth of up to 50 centimetres, or greater if there is evidence indicating a suspect target. They will use metal detectors (if possible) and manual prodding or probing (if possible). At all times they will only stand on the side which has been cleared by both dogs. Often this process reveals a shell fragment with a tiny piece of unburnt explosive adhering to the inside. However, the false alarm rate is low, and the total clearance cost using dogs is about one quarter (or less) that of manual demining using conventional methods. (Approx US$0.15 per sq metre with dogs, $0.65 per sq metre using manual demining).
After a location is checked by manual demining, clearance resumes from the location point, continuing to work downwind. The task is 8 metres (m) wide across the wind direction, but can be quite long along the wind direction. Ronco use 15 m x 15 m square boxes (a dog works at it from both sides on an 8 m leach, which allows for 1 m overlap.)
In Bosnia and Croatia (and Northern Iraq) deminers use 10 m x 10 m square boxes. If one dog indicates an explosive device in a square, then current procedures require the entire square to be cleared manually. Well organised dogs can check up to 3,000 sq metres per day each. However, this is very rarely achieved because manual deminers can never clear safe lanes and mark working boxes at this rate. The normal arrangement is one dog team (2 dogs/handlers) to a demining team of eight men. Some demining groups bring dogs in only on selected days after manual teams have cleared sufficient boxes to provide the dog team with enough work.
Another common kind of dog task in Croatia is ruined houses which have been deserted for up to 10 years. When the houses were wrecked, some militias left some mines to deter people from trying to return to their homes. Other times, fighting in the area resulted in UXO being left inside or around the houses. Typically it costs about US$2,000 to check a house and yard with dogs, including the cost of clearing vegetation beforehand. Often the exterior vegetation can be cleared mechanically using a remotely controlled mini-flail. Clearing the interior is more time-consuming. One operator explained to me that "dogs don't know where to expect booby traps so they check everywhere….my men think they know where the booby traps would have been placed so they don't look elsewhere".
Known Problems in Using Dogs
Dogs do not find every mine. Even in Afghanistan, where the mine detection dog program has been operating since 1989, there are reports of missed mines from time to time. Elsewhere, the results are varied. Recent testing in Bosnia and Herzegovina has shown very poor performance by dogs. However, there are other test results which show satisfactory results. There are no standards which apply to dog performance testing.
The depth at which dogs can find mines also varies. There are reports of dogs finding AT mines as deep as 1 metre beneath unsealed roads, but then there are also reports of dogs missing similar mines less than 20 cm below the ground elsewhere (and even on the surface in some regions).
Dogs have not always been successfully introduced into demining theatres. Several known problems have been encountered, and it is important to be aware of these.
First, there may be disease problems. In Africa, mosquito and insect-born diseases have caused severe problems for dogs (and handlers too!). Food supplies need to be checked very carefully, and hygiene standards appropriate for 'foreigners' are essential. Veterinary support can be helpful in preventing some diseases through vaccination.
Quarantine restrictions can be troublesome in some countries, particularly if the dog needs to be keep quarantined for some time before entry. The handler needs to be with the dog during this period.
Dogs need to acclimatise after arrival in a new country and environment. They need time to orient themselves to a new world of sights, sounds and smells, just as the handler will. There is much disagreement, and few objective tests on the length of time needed. Times claimed for acclimatisation are between 2 weeks and 6 months.
Dogs will need to be trained on the types of mines and other targets they are expected to find. It is important to remember that the dog does not only smell explosive. In fact there is much discussion on what the dogs actually do smell. In some instances, dogs have been trained to find metal fragments when their number is small, and there has been trouble with training them to find particular UXO types. Some people claim that the dogs are sensitive not so much to explosives, but also to chemical by-products contained in the explosives or other parts of the mine, and even the smells associated with plastic packaging of the mine, or lubricating oils in the casings of UXO's. Some hardened skeptics claim that it is the human odor that the dogs pick-up and that is why they tend to find recently buried items that their trainer deposit but seem to miss even the landmines that are uncovered.
Training sites need extreme care. Practice targets need to be buried several weeks (at least) before the dogs are tested (or trained). The targets must be representative samples of the mines which the dogs are to locate. We do not know exactly what the dogs smell. Some people argue that the smell of additives in the plastic mine casing dominates the smell of explosive, but we know that human noses can smell some compounds much easier than others present in the same concentration.
The targets need to be handled carefully and with clean plastic gloves to avoid human scents contaminating them. Dummy targets need to be buried as well to ensure that the dogs are not simply finding places where something has been buried recently. Some targets can simply be hidden rather than being buried - this helps to avoid unnecessary distractions for the dog. Another issue is the order in which targets are placed. Some people attempt to arrange the targets such that the dog will encounter the hardest targets to detect first. Finally, there must be adequate separation between the targets - at least 20 to 30 metres.
There is some suspicion that dogs cannot work in certain soil and vegetation conditions where most if not all the explosive vapour is absorbed by the soil, running water, or plants, and cannot then be found by the dog. This may be associated with heavy clay soils with extremely fine particles.
Many of these issues are the subject of ongoing arguments between different people in the international demining community. Inevitably there are some vested interests which colour opinions stated from time to time. However, it is apparent that there are performance problems and more research is needed, with careful testing by dog users. Given our very limited understanding of canine physiology and behaviour, these issues may not be resolved clearly for some time.
from here:
http://school.mech.uwa.edu.au/~james...n/leb-rpt.html