What does it take for a K9 team to move from a tactical entry to an explosive detection search? Former FBI Hostage Rescue Team operator Mike Skinner joins Cameron Ford to discuss the training and dog selection behind that transition—and why the work has to be practiced in the conditions teams may actually face.
Mike shares lessons from HRT deployments, including a Herkimer operation in which his dog repeatedly headed toward an area the team was not yet searching. He and Cameron also discuss detection cues, rewarding at source versus calling a dog back for reward, laser directionals, and what a missed odor at a threshold taught Mike about preparing for the next search.
For handlers and trainers, this conversation comes back to a demanding question: Have you trained the dog for the search you’re about to ask it to do?
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