FOR DRUG-SNIFFING K-9S, CHEW TOY REWARD OF MORE INTEREST THAN ILLEGAL
SUBSTANCES

Sniffing out drugs.

It's a serious job and takes a lot of training.

For four-legged military police it's all a game, said K-9 handlers
Thursday during a training exercise at the West Pac Barracks on Camp
Foster.

Sergeants Aaron Nuckles, 29, from South Pines, N.C., and Christopher
Diaz, 23, from Albuquerque, N.M., hid several palm-sized canisters
containing small amounts of drugs in the barracks.

"We use 100 percent illegal drugs" in training, said Nuckles, the
assistant kennel master.

"Using the real thing reinforces the training," Diaz
added.

Military working dogs go through a 90-day recruit training at Lackland
Air Force Base in Texas. They then spend the rest of their careers in
continued training "to progress their skills," Nuckles said.

The dogs' motivation is not in finding the drugs, he said. The dogs
only want to find the drug odor so they can get a reward -- playing
with dog toys and words of praise from handlers.

"They can pick the individual smells out," Nuckles
said.

"If we walked into a Pizza Hut all we smell is pizza," he said. "(The
dogs) smell the dough, the pepperonis and the sauce."

The promise of a reward also was evident as German shepherds Andy, 8,
and Meister, 3, quivered with excitement when it came time to enter
the barracks to search for drugs.

Andy "is like a little kid," Nuckles said as the dog almost pulled him
from room to room. "He knows if he does it right, he gets the kong (a
dog toy)."

The dogs quickly located each hiding spot then sat to indicate their
find.

And then waited for their rewards.