Arson Dogs - Denali and Gator
October 18, 2007 by Colby
We recently had a special visit at our Orange County Guide Dog meeting. We were joined by two arson dogs (Gator and Denali) and their handler, Susan, an arson investigator. Susan did a short demonstration with her retired arson dog named “Gator”. It is such a pleasure to see these dogs in action.
Arson Dog Demonstration
The demonstration began with selecting three members from our group to stand in a line-up. We added a tiny bit of accelerant (flammable liquid) using a cotton swab to the top of one of the three people’s shoes. After about 20 minutes of lecture (plenty of time for the accelerant to evaporate), Gator attempted to identify the suspect (shoe with accelerant). After sniffing each shoe he sat in front of the person with accelerant on her shoe and proceeded to bark. I must admit, I was very impressed.
Gator’s second demonstration was using a spinning device with paint cans. It was somewhat like a large lazy susan with about 8 paint cans. The idea was to add some accelerant to a tiny cloth and drop it in one of the paint cans (each paint can would have a cloth, but only one had accelerant). We spun the wheel and Gator had to find the paint can with the accelerant. He did the demonstration over and over again, each time finding the correct paint can by sitting then barking.
Guide Dog Puppy In Training to Arson Dog
One of the great things about these two arson dogs is that they originally started in the Guide Dogs of America program. Not all Guide Dog puppies in training go on to be full fledged working Guide Dogs. Approximately 40% are removed from the program for health and temperament issues. From the Guide Dogs of America website: “To be a successful Guide Dog, many factors including health and a willingness to work come into play. If a dog in the our program does not meet the proper criteria necessary to be a guide dog they must be removed from the program… All dogs that are removed from the program for any reason we call Career Change dogs.” Career change dogs are often taken by their puppy raisers as pets, but also may move into the Arson Dog program, Search and Rescue, or other Service Dog program.
Career Change Dogs
A career change dog can also be a retired working guide dog. What happens to career change dogs who aren’t taken by their puppy raisers or handlers? The dogs will be put up for adoption…from Guide Dogs of America Website: “Currently we have such a long list of people waiting to adopt a dog (over a 6 year wait at this time) that we are no longer taking new applications to adopt a dog. You can always inquire about it in a years time.”
I found a couple short clips on Denali and Gator the two Arson Dogs featured in this article:
http://www.ci.rancho-cucamonga.ca.us/fire/fire_prog_highlights.htm
http://geoffandwen.com/blind/newsarticle.asp?u_id=8880
<p>I heard that the Santiago Canyon fires were caused by an arsonist and wanted to see if Denali was involved in the investigation. I didn’t find any articles on Denali, but found this interesting article on arson dogs: http://lowdown.blogs.foxnews.com/2007/10/26/arson-dogs-sniff-out-suspect-fires/.</p>
<p>I’m sure Denali and Susan are helping out in the arson investigation. I hope everyone is safe and staying out of the ash and smoke. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone impacted by the recent wildfires in California.</p>
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