K9 Explosive and Mine Detection: A Manual for Training and Operations

A comprehensive guide to training and certifying K9 explosive detection teams.

Learn how to:

• Train your K9 to detect and safely alert for explosive substances.
• Conduct operational searches in buildings, vehicles, ships, and planes.
• Train your dog for the specialized work of mine detection.

In the high stakes realm of explosive detection, where even the smallest mistake can have fatal consequences, the margin of error is zero. Well trained dog-handler teams can play a key role in explosive detection, but only if their training is top notch.

Dr. Resi Gerritsen and Ruud Haak have worked with police departments around the world to help them establish and improve their K9 explosive detection training programs, and in this book they share their expertise with handlers and trainers looking to enhance their own performance.

They teach how to pick the right dog for explosive detection work, how to train the dog to detect explosives, and how to properly execute a variety of training and operational searches. They also provide some of the background knowledge you’ll need about common explosives and the many factors that can influence a K9’s work. Along with essential health and safety precautions for you and your dog, you’ll also learn how to test and certify dogs and handlers to ensure excellent performance in the field.

Dr. Resi Gerritsen, a psychologist and jurist, is an international judge for the International Rescue Dog Organisation (IRO) and the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI). Along with her late husband, Ruud Haak, and other colleagues in Austria, Resi developed a new method for training search-and-rescue dogs that revolutionized the field after producing stellar results in disaster zones around the world. She still trains her dogs for search and rescue, detection work, and Schutzhund.

Ruud Haak was the author of more than 30 dog books in Dutch, German, and English, and for over 40 years he was the editor-in-chief of the biggest Dutch dog magazine, Onze Hond (Our dog). Ruud travelled the world with his wife, Dr. Resi Gerritsen, teaching their unique methods to police departments, search-and-rescue organizations, and other dog trainers. He passed away in 2023.