Military K9 vs Private Sector: Scent Detection Handler Brandon Franquez

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome back, everybody. This is the NWA Connie Corso Podcast. We talk everything dogs with people from all over the world. Today we have our brother from another mother, Brandon Franquez is in the house. How you doing, bro?

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Hey, I'm doing well. Well, happy to be here.

SPEAKER_01 0:18

Excellent, excellent, excellent. We're glad you're here. Um, so man, uh, let's get right into it. Um, Doug Kopich, he's been uh telling me about you. Uh y'all actually met uh somewhere uh y'all was both working the dogs, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 0:35

And uh yeah, we actually uh I actually met him just randomly on it on Instagram, you know, and I saw what he was doing. And uh in the line of work and what I do out here in this area was I I reached out to him and told him we do some detection dog training out here in the area with uh novice and people in the industry just to keep dogs up to par. And uh he came out to one of our trainings, and since then he's he pops in and out and uh always always picking my brain and always always willing to learn, which is great. So, yeah, Doug, shout out to Doug.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Right, yeah, right. Shout out, Doug. What's up with your brother? Well, man, uh, so what area are you in? So the people will know.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Uh, so right now I'm in the Hampton Roads area, uh Hampton, Newport News, uh Yorktown area. Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

All right. So how did you get into dogs?

SPEAKER_00 1:23

Uh dogs, uh, number one. Uh it's always been a passion, right? Something I had, but something that kind of uh catapulted where I am right now is the military. Um joined the Air Force uh right off the jump. What I wanted to do was be a dog handler. Uh so they said, Oh, security forces is a job for you. Um, and the process with uh the Air Force and being in that is is you don't just jump into the job. You kind of are you have to put in some elbow grease and uh show that it's something you really want to do. And then from there you're selected to uh join the program uh with the blessing of a kettle master and your commander. And then from there you just go to Lackland and you're you're there for three and a half months, just learning dogs. Uh pretty much the basics of where that goes. So that kind of led me to where I am today. Uh, six years, six years and some change in the military, about uh four and a half years in the military as a canine handler there. And now I'm doing it as a private contractor at the moment as a civilian.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

Cool, cool. Now, when you uh when you started, did y'all have like dual purpose dogs or was it more single purpose dogs you work you worked with?

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Um it was it was dual purpose. Uh they had single purpose dogs, they also had dual purpose dogs, and uh the way they kind of fit you in in the Air Force and the military is uh to kind of uh see where your skill levels at and kind of match you with the dog that kind of will get you to where you need to be. Uh, because they do have those dogs that are just high drive and ready to go right out the gate. And being fresh out of a uh school, I mean, maybe that's not something you need right off the jump. Uh maybe it's more a seasoned dog that they've had for a while. Maybe it's single purpose in in the first, they're your first dog, and then from there you progress and learn what it takes to be an operational handler, especially with the military. And then maybe later on in your career, you'll probably get one of those hard-headed dogs that are just tough that builds your character as well. Right, right. Uh, did you have to do any deployments? Uh for me, no. Uh, my station was here at Langley. Um, I joined out of Langley Air Force Base, uh, went K9 out of there, came back from K9 school, and then from there already had orders to go to Guam. Um, so Guam is uh they don't really deploy unless really needed, right? So it's almost like a deployed in place, so it's all training, right? Strictly training. So we're just training 24-7. Um for me as a young handler, that's what I needed. I needed to learn the job and and what it entailed to be a detection handler, narcotics handler, or patrol handler. So it was very great for me in the starting of my career. Right.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

So uh in the military, most of that scent work is gonna be for bombs and things like that, right?

SPEAKER_00 4:07

Yeah, bombs, uh mostly bombs, yeah. Uh on the operational side, on the civilian side, you have uh firearms as well. So uh they do firearms on the outside. Uh, it's kind of hard in the military to have your dogs searching people all the time because people are carrying weapons all the time. So the fire ass firearms aspect of it is it's tough. Yeah, not saying the dogs wouldn't hit or or couldn't hit on it, but what we trained and the orders we train on weren't necessarily for firearms, right?

SPEAKER_01 4:34

Right. Yeah, I'm gonna get into that later. Uh on the science of the scent, the scent works. That's gonna be that's gonna be interesting. Uh because I think that's pick your brains on that. Um uh let me see, look at my notes. So uh once you get out of the military, um did you work for some a company doing scent detection, or do you immediately go independent?

SPEAKER_00 5:02

So, what happened with me, right? Um, I kind of left the military three months earlier than my uh end of separation date, uh, and then joined a program called Skillbridge. And in the Skillbridge program, you're able to choose a trade or a college to go to, and you kind of it's a transitional stage of leaving the military. So I actually found through talking through one of my uh canine buddies is that there was a military or uh a trade school for canine handling, and I was like, this is exactly what I want to do. Um, the school is called uh American Canine Interdiction, based out of Franklin, Virginia. Uh, I think right now, at the at this moment, they're the only ones who actually are in the Skillbridge program that uh accept the VA and all that stuff because the VA does pay for it. Um and I I jumped straight into that. Like I was like, okay, let me just broaden my capabilities as a dog handler and learn what it is to be operational on the civilian side because it's totally different day and night, civilian and the military, uh, what they teach you. Um so I did that, and it was another 18 weeks, I believe. Um which was which was great. And then um learning that I can be a private contractor and work for multiple companies that are out there, um, that's that's exactly what I wanted to do, and and get a piece and taste what it's like to be a uh civilian handler. So that's what I did.

SPEAKER_01 6:26

So let me ask you the ask you this what is the biggest difference in a military handler and a civilian handler?

SPEAKER_00 6:34

It's the mission. I mean, uh your mission as a canine handler in the military is strictly uh protect the base, right? Protect your base, um, and train to be ready to go downrange for whatever it is, right? Um, and uh, and every every base you go to downrange is is totally different. What they want you to do as canine handlers. You have um people doing search pits all day long, just technic vehicles that come in and out, and then operational, uh man, you're tasked with everything from concerts to uh music events to sporting events to private detail stuff. So I mean it just comes down to the mission, right? You have a lot more leeway in the civilian side of what they the mission is uh military-wise.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

Is it easier to keep your dog sharper on a military side?

SPEAKER_00 7:27

Absolutely. Um, and this is something I'm I'm I'm finding out, right? Being a private contractor, is you have access to all these live aids, uh, live explosives that you can train on regularly. Um, and and it's it's limitless of the resources you can use in the military. As a private contractor, you don't have that. You literally have the kits you can buy online, and it's either if you don't have a training group or a support group to go with out and train, you're stuck by yourself. You're going out planning the aids yourself. And this is what I'm finding is it's a big downfall in civilian handlers, is you know where the aids are. Now you're just walking your dog to see what your dog might do versus really not knowing where your hides are and um going off that. So it's it's it's a big disconnect right now. I'm seeing in the civilian side, you know, that that I know there's companies out there trying to ramp up to build that bridge where you're not alone, or even like me, myself, like starting a detection club out here in Virginia and inviting people who just want to learn it, or people are already involved and just don't have the access to people critiquing them along these problems or their training problems, right? Um, so so that's the biggest disconnect right now from civilian side and military. Military, you have the assets and everything to help you on the civilian side, you're alone.

SPEAKER_01 8:45

So, like I was talking to Doug, and uh and um, like you said, in the military, you probably you have more access to the scents and different things, and but as a civilian, uh I hear you can even almost make seats and uh you know different things.

SPEAKER_00 9:03

I don't know how go ahead if you have access to the stuff. I mean, definitely you can, but I mean you don't want to get flagged along the line. But hey, this guy's uh buying all these things at Home Depot and he looks kind of sus, you know. Right, right. Listed from stuff or yeah, you know, yeah, right, right.

SPEAKER_01 9:22

Yeah, I will be I'll be a little nervous about doing something like that. So I'm glad you mentioned that.

SPEAKER_00 9:27

So yeah, it's just yeah, you might want to pseudo aids out there, you know, precision and then set logics out there where you can buy things, and it's always evolving, right? Yeah, so I mean those those are the things that most people have access to that they can purchase. It costs a pretty penny to pick up some aids, though, that are gonna get you to move forward in the career and progress.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

Yeah, yeah. So the group y'all got now that uh y'all formed, uh how how does it work? Y'all work out on a weekend, how how big is that? Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_00 9:59

The group is pretty much based like we have a group chat, and and uh people we find along the way, and we put everyone puts out and my my biggest thing is uh don't be a jerk on it, right? Everyone's out here to learn from from whatever reasons, whatever way they can, and then just be respectful of the places we go and and and people procure these places to train. And uh everyone's allowed to lead the training. If someone says, Hey, I I want to work on this, or there's something I want to do, would you guys mind coming out and and helping me or running your dogs on this problem and my idea? And then from there, as we get together, we progress the the idea of whatever this person has to make it a great training day. That way, so that way you get your dog to run for one, and then two, if you're planning to do the training, then you get the the training trainer aspect of it. Now you get to use your brain and and and ideas of how you would want a problem to go or what you see happening in the world. So everyone has a say in it. So that's that's the one real big thing about this training group that we had is everyone has an input, and everyone is helping everyone progress in this career from the lowest level to the highest level, right? We have people in the group that have been doing some billion uh canine work for for years, and then you have myself who has the military background, and then you know, like people just doing it for fun just because their dog showed interest in odor, right? So there's an aspect everybody can get involved in and learn something, and that's what it is in the canine detection world is you always got to learn from the from the lowest person to the highest person, there's something to take away.

SPEAKER_01 11:31

Yeah, yeah, because that got that goes into another question I had for you. And being a breeder, we have something uh like artists would call uh writer's block or something like that, but we call it kennel blindness. Is there such a thing as handler bias, like always training by yourself?

SPEAKER_00 11:51

Is it yeah, yeah, absolutely. Like uh you come people just train by themselves all the time, and they only see one aspect of their training, and that's through their eyes, right? It's never through somebody else's eyes. Because for me as a trainer, if I plan a problem, I can see your dogs change your behavior from miles away. But you holding the leash won't see it until you're right on top of Odor, right? And that's the biggest thing I always tell people like, Hey, I have the advantage, but at the same time, I can help you notice that 10 feet before you even hit the problem. So having that having those eyes on the outside looking in is beneficial to everybody doing dog handling on the civilian side. And you you need those critiques in in your training to be like, Oh, this is my gap. Oh, I didn't even notice my dog doing this. Oh, I didn't even notice my dog tail stops wagging when it's in odor, or you know, the little things is it's what you pick up on change of behavior and detection, right?

SPEAKER_01 12:46

Right, right. It's like a coach being able, he got a boxer, he's seeing things that boxers can't see, and vice versa. So, yeah, yeah. So um before we go on, I'm gonna get into some of the event stuff, but on along in your career, um, who has been some of the biggest, I say per se, inspiration or some of the best guys and sent work to you, man.

SPEAKER_00 13:13

Um, just just with my experience in the military, right? Um, I came from Langley, and Langley was probably a kennel, maybe of 10 people tops. Um, but where I started, the group that was there, I was never never able to replace that anywhere I've seen dog training. Um, it was people kind of breaking you down in training as needed, but at the same time, at the end of that finish line, they were there to pick you up and be like, hey, brother, like this is what we need to work on, this is what I'm seeing in your dog. So um, man, shout out to Jeff Kennedy. He was the one who kind of signed my my uh my letter to go to canine school, and he's been a big mentor in my life as far as uh canine handling. Uh Noah Madora, also one of the trainers there. He was always had my back to this day. Um, and and um Bob Babadia, uh one of my guys, Richard, he's he's also had my back to one of these days. And uh these guys have broken me down to the point where, like, dang, I don't even know why I'm in this career field. But at the end of the day, they were there to pick me up and make sure that I'm the best version of a dog handler I needed to be. So it's I think it's the aspect of the military brotherhood in itself, and then on top of that, being a canine handler is a small group of people worldwide, right? Like, there's not too many detection handlers out there, so just even in the dog world in itself, you know it's a small world, you know, somebody somewhere doing some kind of breeding, or you know somebody somewhere some doing some kind of detection work or bite work, and it's just so small. So having those people around just lifted me up to be the best version and be able to speak and teach it as well, you know. Like uh uh you got people who in the world who believe, hey, this is the way, this is the only way you gotta do this. That's not the way it works in the dog, bro.

SPEAKER_01 15:02

No, it doesn't, no, it's not, yeah, you're right.

SPEAKER_00 15:05

From obedience training to detection training to bite work training, all all roads lead to Rome, and it's just what you want to pick and choose from these people to add in your toolbox for the next dog, maybe this dog. It's not gonna work always work for this dog you have, but it may work for the next dog you come across.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

That's right, that's right. It's almost man, you hit the nail right on the head, it's almost like Kung Fu. Um, it's like martial arts, you got to know some styles. Well, because you never know what you're running to if you get really know what you're gonna run into, right? Right, and um, so let's get into the the business side. What made you go independent instead of working for someone? Uh uh, why did you do that?

SPEAKER_00 15:51

Um, just to broaden my idea of what it is to be a private contractor, right? Um, it's it's cool to be at these events. I get to go to music events, sporting events for free and and and be working at the same time, right? Staying vigilant at the same time. But every now and then you pop in and see what's going on. So, like just to expose myself to what's out there. Um, and like I said, it just goes back to what I just said, like just being able to see what's out there, and and now I know the disconnect between leaving a schoolhouse or the military and being a dog handler to being an operational handler and and trying to connect that bridge for others to learn, right? Um and and that's that's the main reason is I wanted to kind of see where where everybody's learning all this information, gathering information so it I can add to my toolbox and and and be the better version. So that's kind of where that led me to doing private contract, and at the same time, it's really cool. I get to choose and pick my hours. I get to say, yes, I want to work this concert or no, I want to work a sporting event instead. Like you just it's a it's a balance, like okay, this is gonna pay more than this, so I might as well drive up to Philly and do this instead, you know. So it's a pick and choose, and and being a family man now and in the military, the military took a lot of time away from my family straight up. So now being a private contractor, I get to pick and choose what works for me and my family, but also for myself, right?

SPEAKER_01 17:16

Yeah, I had an eight-year run before I took this job. I am in nowhere, and I really, really, you know, got into figuring out uh quality of life, and I figure out something that you know is more about lifestyle than money. You know, like you said, spending time with your kids and being able to take my son to school, all those little things I cherish. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 17:39

Yeah, like in the military, yeah. That's they're gonna replace you the next day, and the next day, the next person's coming in. But right at the household, that's all you have when you come home from that, right? So keeping that keeping that balance and having that balance in this moment after my transition from the military is exactly what I needed, right?

SPEAKER_01 17:57

And I'm gonna tell you something too. I'm just gonna say it because this might be a good tip for somebody. Even in jobs I really didn't want, I would when I when I bid them, I bid them real high. And so if I if I got it, I'd be like, okay, well, it's worth the money now, even if I didn't want to do it, you know. So exactly, yeah. So um how does it how does it work? You get the call. Are you the first off, what kind of dog or dogs are you working with?

SPEAKER_00 18:26

Um, so me personally, I have a black lab. Um she's a field lab, so she's on the smaller size, she's like maybe 45 pounds. Um, so she's a firearms explosive dog. Um, and that's the great thing about going to AK and I was uh not only do you pay for a course to learn uh your skill or broaden your skills that you already have, is you get a dog out of the program. So you train a green dog from nothing to what it knows as far as odor, and then you get to keep that dog and go find work. Um, so me personally, right now, after working with Malin Walls, after working with German Shepherds, those high drive dogs, it's so nice to have a lab right now at the in the house. And the the change pace is is day and night because if you have a maligator, you know if you don't give it something to do, it's gonna find something to do.

SPEAKER_01 19:16

Go find something, yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_00 19:17

Yeah, so so right now I'm working a lab.

SPEAKER_01 19:20

Okay, okay. So um in my area, if it's a big event, I'm usually gonna get the call to haul a fuel through the crowds or just to through the they want me to avoid crowds at all costs. But if I have to, uh being that I live with the home of Walmart, you know, we we have celebrities and people uh that's invested in that company are either begging them for money, celebrities, yeah, yeah. Processing the store. So yeah, um, so we a lot of people don't know just down here in this southern town, we see uh celebrities all the time. I was in the bathroom right next to Nick Cannon. You know what I mean? Yeah, bro. But over here, up here, people just don't like they see a celebrity, always like ah, because yeah, yeah, celebrities hide up in the in the uh some of our areas, like hot springs and living in gay communities where people wouldn't even know you was there. So yeah, that being said, uh I I when I get those calls for those events, but sometimes I see K9s there before the events. Yeah, but when do you come in?

SPEAKER_00 20:38

So let's uh a good example, right? Is I just did uh the Usher uh Chris Brown concert up in DC. They were there for three days, right?

SPEAKER_02 20:46

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 20:46

Uh doors didn't open until six o'clock. We're already there at two o'clock, right? Yeah. Uh breaking our dogs, getting ready. Now we're conducting pre-sweeps of the venue while nobody's really there, right? Maybe employees are there and we had a dog there earlier the night before doing all the vendor trucks and all that stuff before they come. But when the brigade is called and we're called in, now it's our time to go into that venue before it's crowded with full of people attending the show, doing sweeps, making sure nothing was left behind. If anything was left behind, that we're taking notes. Hey, this bag was here. We had it checked, we had uh PD come out and check it and then press on from there. So it's basically a pre-sweep of the venue, and then we give our dogs a break because it takes a good time to do uh you can imagine a football stadium.

SPEAKER_01 21:31

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:32

And and everybody has their own section, and uh, and we're doing pretty good sweeps, uh, pretty uh uh systematic and thorough sweeps of the venue. Um, and then we're doing uh screening on people as they're entering the venue. So now we're now we're getting into the vapor orders and the mogul odor part of detection that they don't really teach in the military. We're not allowed to do that in the military. So on the civilian side, it's something we pick up on. And and there, not only, and this is a big thing I like to tell my People is that you're a team, right? Your dog has the senses, but you have the brain. Right. So you help your dog as much as possible. And you're you're looking people, see if they have silhouetting around their waist, if they look suspicious in the crowd. Uh, you know, you're paying attention to these things, and then you walk your dog by these people and let your dog do the job. So that's kind of what we do. And then after that, we just break away and then call it the day, and we're back at it the next day doing the venue again.

SPEAKER_01 22:24

Okay, so I don't like like you said, I know the pre-sweep happens. So, and when the people coming in, um, so the dog is that's a lot of pressure and a lot of it's it's a lot going on for a dog. Oh my god, man. What kind of dog you gotta have for that?

SPEAKER_00 22:44

Yeah, you just have a have to have a dog that understands what it's going through because everything you do in this in this part of the game is a game for the dog, so you have to make it fun. Even if your dog doesn't find something in the first hour, go take your dog to your other side and give your dog a reward, right? Like your dog is still doing a job, it may not find anything, but your dog's working really hard. And and you could tell by the dog the way your dog's acting in those moments, right? Like now your dog's heavily panting. Because I always tell people throwing a ball for your dog is totally different from your dog actively searching for odor. That kind of draining and and stress on a dog in those situations is totally different. Throwing a ball is all fun, but now your dog is actively searching for something in the crowd, it it burns your dog out in a different way.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

Yeah, so when you're doing the empty sweeps when there's not nobody there, and we all know how big a football stadium is, right? Yeah, how do the dog you keep his so mill and strong?

SPEAKER_00 23:42

Yeah, yeah going through that. So, what we do normally too is we have drop aids, right? We have those those training odors, and we will put them out so that way your dog gets a win along the way. So we'll have maybe somebody who's not working dog being like, Hey, I'm gonna go put out a drop aid somewhere so that way when you come across it, your dog gets a win. So now your dog goes through searching 30 minutes, nothing, nothing, nothing. It's like, dang, why am I even doing this? It's not even fun. Then you come across the training aid, and you're like, dog's like, Oh, bingo, this is what I'm supposed to be looking for. Then your dog's hyped up again, ready to go for another 30-45 minutes because he already came across what unlocked the reward.

SPEAKER_01 24:24

So, like I said, it's all game to a dog. So, was that the lab you have was it already proven, or was this the dog you raised?

SPEAKER_00 24:33

Oh, it's a dog that was already proven. Um, so when I picked her up at the school, I trained her up uh really quick, and and she showed very good interest in in Odor and wanting to learn it, and I just ran with it. After that, I I worked a music festival and we actually had some live finds. We found some weapons in people's cars. Oh, and you know, yeah, we found a couple handguns and and ammunition in the vehicle. Um, and these are just people who are used to carrying day-to-day, right? And and not realizing, like, oh shoot, I still have my weapon in the car and I'm going to a music event, right? So it's not no nothing malicious, right? It's just something they're used to carrying in their state and they're used to having it on them. But the dog found it, and to me, that's a live fine, right? I no one planted it there for me to be like, hey, this is training. No, my dog found that. So, in those instances, like your dog is always working, always working, and that draining of your dog in those situations is totally different from just throwing the ball, like I said. Um giving those dogs the win, keep the dog wanting to keep playing, basically, in essence. So that's what kind of works out when we're working the stadiums, is that we got to put something out for the dogs to find. Okay, we can't just be searching six hours and the dog finds nothing because when we go out to the crowd, they're gonna be like, Man, I don't even want to do this. I I was searched the whole venue and never found anything. And what's the point of playing this game? So and so we give those drop aids just so the dogs do get wins, right?

SPEAKER_01 25:58

Right, right. Yeah, catch it. Um, in in your career, or in your opinion, rather, yeah. What breeds are the best for this type work?

SPEAKER_00 26:12

Man, I it's that's a tough question, right? Um, and I I always the way I answer and approach that question is it's up to the dog. You you have you know those dogs that are are ready to go all the time. Um, I've had a my last dog I had in the military was a dual-purpose patrol and and uh explosive dogs, but man, was she good at explosive finding? She was so good that I could work her off-leash and her directionals, and she didn't have to be on a leash. I just say check right, check left, check back. And this dog is going um nonstop. And she was a pocket German shepherd. Um, really great. Um, but now I have this lab and I'm seeing the different aspects of labs. Like, yeah, labs are goofy, they they get puppy brain all the time and they stay puppy brain for a long time of their life. But man, do they want to work because it's a game, right? And labs and labs like to play. So once you establish that groundwork of this is your job and the game, man, that dog will do anything. But it also comes down to training, right? Like, how often are you training in these environments and and putting your dog through the ringer to work through tough situations and crowds, right? So it it that for me that's a tough question to answer because it all comes down to training and if the dog is willing to do the job.

SPEAKER_01 27:29

What has been your most notable find?

SPEAKER_00 27:33

My most notable find coming on to uh the operational side here in Hampton. So, what we do with AK and I is we're here operating in the the school time in school districts. So now we're operating in Hampton, Newport News schools. Oh, uh, and and it's and it's all random. From elementary, we're kind of building the kids up to seeing dogs in the next level, middle school and high school.

SPEAKER_02 27:57

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:58

Um, and and and if for those who know Hampton Newport News, it's it's kind of rough out there for the kids. Oh, yeah. They're the growing up in in the elements of makes it hard for them. So they're dealing with everything. But from elementary, it's just to expose the kids, so it's more like a show and tell for them. And then you get to middle school. Now you're starting to it changes. Now I can't I can't let you pet my dog because my dog needs to be on point here, you know. Um, and now now the narcotics dogs are getting more busy in elementary, right? Now they're coming with with things that they shouldn't be bringing to school as far as drugs, not so much the firearms yet, right? Because they're still kids. Not to say it doesn't happen and we haven't found anything, but then you get to high school, and now it's a combination of what middle school is and being an adult, uh, semi-adult, young adult, right? And dealing with the persuasion on the outside world, right? Um, so now we're working a school and uh it's all random. We never nothing, the kids know when we're coming. Uh, it's all hey, you're going to this school today, this school today, and the next day it's might be completely, totally different schools. Uh, we found uh uh old uh mortar, um, and it was uh uh my partner at the time searching the school who found it, but we were there on scene together. I was somewhere else doing something else in a classroom, and he was doing his section. But uh the dog showed a big change of behavior on a bookshelf in an ROTC room. And in this room, uh behind a bookshelf, because the dog was tearing everything off this bookshelf to get to whatever it was, uh, they found a whole bunch of fireworks taped up together with the fuse. Um, and it was it was it was probably a good chunk of fireworks. Um and a dog found it from the front of the bookshelf all the way to the back. The thing was so dusty and had cobwebs all over it, so we don't even know how long it was it's been there. But the fact that the dog found it from the front of the bookshelf and EOD came in and said, Hey, if this thing was to go off, whoever was in that room was was gonna get hurt.

SPEAKER_02 30:00

Right.

SPEAKER_00 30:01

Um, so from there it went to a big scale. Now we're evacuating the school, now the kids are being evacuated, parents are being called. Uh, now we're setting up command stations outside. So to see that whole thing transpire from a first alert to actually uh debriefing and ending the day, like it it was uh that was probably one of the biggest finds I've been a part of uh on the civilian side operationally in the military. I mean, uh I don't want to go too deep in it, but there's been some things that we found. Uh like I could probably say this that when I was stationed on Guam, we got a call that the Chinese have possibly put 10 bombs on the base. And and it took maybe three, almost three hours to clear the whole base with all our dog teams ready to go. And and for that and the amount of base we had on Guam, it was very impressive. Uh, and the fact of the time frame of calling people from being home, not working, to get to base and getting their dogs ready to go was I mean, it was lightning fast. Uh, so so on that side, that probably be the biggest thing I've been a part of so far. Right, right. Uh we didn't we didn't find anything, thank goodness. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And but just just those two things kind of stick out in my mind, right?

SPEAKER_01 31:17

Right. Yeah, man. I was sitting here thinking, man, I remember uh uh seeing guns in junior high, yeah. When I was in junior high, I'm almost 50, yeah. But you know, at that time, that's when uh the crack epidemic was at the highest and shit. I'm trying to sound ancient now.

SPEAKER_00 31:39

How do you? Why you don't say yellow? Well are nice, right? Well are nice.

SPEAKER_01 31:44

How old are you? Uh I'll be 41 this year. Oh, okay, okay, okay. You're a seasoned man. Okay. Uh yeah, so you yeah, you you probably remember a little bit about that, but yeah, man, it's uh yeah, for sure. Um do you society-wise, do you think you're getting a little bit bigger uh or busier, or you staying at a normal pace on all these threats and different things?

SPEAKER_00 32:09

You know what? Uh come to find out like now, like getting some cool schools on board is really tough. Yeah, not only are you fighting the schools, you're fighting the local PD in that area. And the local P the local PD never like to be exposed on things that they're not really doing well, right? Uh-huh. Uh, it's one thing I'm really coming to find out because even training, like I try to jump in training with them all the time, but I always get I always get pushed back and and pushed away, like, nah nah no, you can't sorry, you can't come train with us. And it's for me, knowing what I know and having the experience I have from the military and now is nobody likes to their the weaknesses exploited, especially the the PDs, right? Um, and and stepping on their territory and their grounds where they're in charge of things, it's it's hard, it's a hard barrier to break. Um, and for example, too, the school that we're trying to get into, this district is is known for a really well school district, right? There, there nothing really happens, and then that's my biggest thing, right? Like, why wouldn't you want a dog there, even if nothing happens, right? Like it's a deteriorate, it's to deteriorate people from coming coming in, right? Like, right. If I if I saw a dog somewhere, I'm like, oh no, I'm good. I'm gonna I'm gonna go home and put this away, or like, you know what I mean? Like, I'm thinking twice about what I'm trying to do. Um, and their their perception is they don't want it to look bad in the community, they don't want parents to see, oh, you have metal detectors in our school or or or you have dogs in our school for what? What's the reason? These are good kids. Yeah, fast forward a month after having these conversations with the school their school boarder. A kid brings a gun to school. Yeah, no, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, yeah, it'll make sense. It doesn't matter what school district. If you bullying is a real thing, right? Down the world, and and it is and and people can't can't take that, and and these are the situations that we need to be ready for. Uh it's always good to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it, right?

SPEAKER_01 34:10

Right, because bullying is a big thing, it makes people go hurt themselves or go hurt go hurt somebody, yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 34:17

And and we're dealing with it with a different age of kids these days, it's totally different from like when me and you went to school, like, hey, we're gonna go to the back and handle this, or you know, I mean, it we're gonna be friends with everybody now. People just shut down the moment things, yeah. It is just it's just different.

SPEAKER_01 34:33

It is because uh a lot of it is the the uh the uh digital age, yes, it's a lot of digital bullying, yeah. Yeah, a lot of adults are wrapped in it too. Dudes my age and older, they they wrapped up that did people will get out the hospital with a cell phone in their face. Um what the heck, you know what I'm saying? And I see dudes fighting with phones in their hands.

SPEAKER_00 34:57

Yeah, it's funny, it's funny you say that because these people are these kids that are making these gun threats to school are filming it before they even act it. It's crazy. They're holding a gun saying, I'm coming to this school at this time, and blah blah blah. And now it's all the whole world knows what you're trying to do, you know what I mean? So it's it's just a different time right now.

SPEAKER_01 35:16

Yeah, it's really odd, bro.

SPEAKER_00 35:18

It's really odd. I just don't I don't understand it, but it's and trying to pick that up and expose our handlers to those, be like, hey man, like, and even getting the community, like different school districts to get on board with that. It's it's tough. That's great, pretty tough. Yeah, they they need they need something to happen first before they actually take actions to prevent it, which it should be the other way around, right?

SPEAKER_01 35:41

Right. That's crazy that they would want to reject that. I would want some my school to feel safe. I don't care if I gotta walk through a metal detector, I gotta do it at the airport, I gotta do it at a lot of places, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 35:53

And that's the thing that's the thing about us private contractors in the school. We are not the police, we we have no law enforcement rights whatsoever. It comes down to administration and then the and the PDs to handle anything we find. So after we find something, even in a in a music venue, our job is almost done, like halfway done. You know, now we got to give descriptions on where we found it, this, that, and the third. But at the end of the day, we're not diffusing anything, we're not controlling people, we're we're we're just there to add as an extra security measure.

SPEAKER_01 36:28

Yes, yeah, yeah. Um, so let me what has been one of I will get you in trouble a little bit, but what what has been one of the most fun and uh best events you ever been to that you worked?

SPEAKER_00 36:46

Oh man, um honestly the the Usher uh breezy was a really good one. Um, like I said, I'm 41. I grew up listening to Usher and all that. So yeah, oh yeah, uh that was a really good one. But uh honestly, one of my favorite ones I I've I've worked was probably the uh this event they have in DC called the round the round table, and it's pretty much all the CEOs of a major company's come to this one event to discuss employment, how are we gonna employ people, how are we gonna keep jobs uh for people within all these companies, how are we gonna spend money? So that high profile event for me was probably a lot cooler than sporting events and and music events, only because a lot of people don't know what the world goes through to keep it running, and and to and to be there and to see all these CEOs hop out of lines of escalades and and and walking out, coming to this one meeting to discuss the future of the employment world and and for these companies that keep it running was was really cool to me. And uh they and they do it quarterly in DC, right? Like it's something they do every quarter of this the the fiscal year. So right and being a part of that is really cool, and then seeing how the security team of those those operations operate because again, I'm just a dog handler as an asset to the security team that's already working it. So seeing how they operate and the people they bring in and their their methodology of keeping the place safe is is cool to me to see the whole operations come full circle. Gotcha, gotcha.

SPEAKER_01 38:21

And then that DMV area, is that your primary area that keeps you busy or do you travel out?

SPEAKER_00 38:27

Uh so for me, this the the school um area keeps me busy during the school time. After that, I'm up in DC a lot working for other companies just because it's a little closer for me. I do get asked to go to Boston and Philly and Tennessee and down to Georgia, but then you got to think about like we talked earlier, how much worth is it to me to drive 14 hours and work four days versus driving to DC where I just got to go up and come back down to where I live three hours away. So it's it's a it's a balance again, right? Because I have gone out to venues that are a little bit further out, but it just made more sense. They pay for your gas, they pay for your hotel room. I'm getting paid 45 to 50 bucks an hour. Uh, so it all comes down to that and the civilian side. It's it's a balance. And some companies that you work for won't pay for your gas, but they'll pay for your hotel room for the next three days. So I mean, it's a it's a good give and take on what the company is going to offer you to go work these venues.

SPEAKER_01 39:27

Yeah, yeah. What are what are some tips uh you could give people starting out in scent detection?

SPEAKER_00 39:34

Man, be a sponge. That's that's the biggest thing I gotta say is be a sponge. Uh the day you think you know it all is the day you failed. Uh, because in in this line of work, in in dogs, broadly dogs, is there's always something to learn, and things are always changing. So be uh able to receive information and critiques and take it, take it on the chin and just put it in your back pocket because there's gonna be one day where you're gonna need that information, right? Um, so that so that'd be the biggest thing is to just be a sponge.

SPEAKER_01 40:10

When you when you work in on um, I I don't know what sense involved in the detection you're in, but if you're gonna train a dog in scent work, uh from a let's let's not even put it on a on a basis like you're on. Let's say that a pet owner would say, Well, I'm a uh the the you know the little bit more than average pet owner, the dog looks yeah. If they were gonna start in scent work, all the cents they make let's say they're gonna do three cents. Should they should they always mix the three cents in order for them to know that, like, this this is what I'm training you for, or yeah, man, it is it's when it comes down to that, like you got to train on one cent and then add the distractors all around it.

SPEAKER_00 40:56

Put some food in the can, put some gloves in the can with that one cent, and then later on change that scent out to the next scent you want to be focused on, and then keep those distractors around so that way your dog's like, Oh, this is food. Uh, I don't get nothing for the food. Oh, this is a glove, uh, I don't get nothing for a glove. Oh, this is dynamite. There comes the payment, right? Like yeah, you got to be focused and and put those distractions because when we're working sporting events, man, there's hot dogs all over the ground, there's nachos on the ground, you know what I mean? There's people, medics with gloves everywhere, you know what I mean. And we'd use the same gloves to touch the aid. So you gotta train off of those things and and train on what the odor is. So you got to throw everything into the mix. I've seen dogs uh get scared of the fireworks at the football games when they score a touchdown. So, like all those little elements that you think you're gonna find in the real world, you need to train on those with the odor around. So now the dog is differentiating between what it is and what it what I'm supposed to be finding, right?

SPEAKER_01 41:59

Right, right. I got you. All right, man. Is there any other advice you think the people could use when we get out of here?

SPEAKER_00 42:05

Man, be a dog handler, it's one of the best things out there. I mean, like I said, you can control your career and and and see see different parts of the state just working a dog, and then at the same time, your your partner's a dog. Man, I would rather work with a dog than most people. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 42:23

Uh the dog is gonna be consistent. I can't work with people. I'm sorry. Yeah, yeah, I'll not take a job when I gotta work with somebody. I'm I'm I'm a people person, but I still choose a dog over me people any any day. Yeah, me too, man. Because if you let me do my job, I'll probably one of the best ones at it. But if I gotta uh I don't man, I'm gonna be the same every day. The person when it's a human, you don't know what you're gonna get. Yeah, you gotta go through all the politics. Give me my job. Usually, when I get a job, they make a whole new uh job uh description for me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just I just did it all, bro. I'm done with that, man.

SPEAKER_00 43:02

So yeah, become a dog handler, build a community, don't be afraid to learn, continue to learn, and and just take all the critiques you can because it only makes you better at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_01 43:13

Absolutely, absolutely. Well, Brandon, I appreciate you, brother. Uh uh, you gave us a lot of information that people use, and you know what? That somewhere, someday, these videos they'll be up forever, and this one video is gonna inspire some young lady or some young man. This is yeah, yeah. So we appreciate it, brother. I'll let you get to your day. All right, Joe. All right, my man. Thank you so much. Take care. I appreciate it. Thank you for your service. Hey, I appreciate it. Thanks for the support. All right, brother. We out take care. Yep. Step into the realm of canine wisdom with our podcast, NWA Connie Corto, where we interview dog men and women from around the globe. Discover their talents and insights on breeding, training, nutrition, and the rich history of dogs. Tune in to the most underrated yet influential dog podcast on social media. Your journey into the dog world starts here.