San Antonio Home to Transportation Security Dogs

It's 6:30 a.m. and Officer Mark Gonzales sips coffee, while his 6-year-old German shepherd, Dasty, goes into the backyard to relieve himself and stretch. It takes them both a few minutes to wake up, but when Dasty hears the leash, he perks right up. He knows it's time for work. He and Gonzales head over to San Antonio's International Airport to begin their day.

When I first see the pair, they are walking past the ticket counters. Dasty stays close to Gonzales, who is smiling and saying "good morning" to passersby. Dasty walks through the crowds, oblivious to the kids gasping with delight at a dog inside the airport.

"We haven't officially started working yet, so I don't mind if kids want to say hi," says Gonzales. A few minutes later, they are posing for a photo.

"Ah, we know who the celebrity is here," says Gonzales. "No one ever asked for my picture before Dasty became my partner."

Gonzales has been a military and airport police officer for 25 years, but for the past four years he has handled the day-to-day operations of San Antonio's five airport police canine teams. They are among 400 other Explosive Detection Canine Teams across the country trained to find potential bomb threats in airports and other mass transit sites.

The Transportation Security Administration trains all the teams at Lackland AFB. The TSA breeds puppies for the program and then fosters them with area families for about 10 months. When the dogs are a year old, they return to the base to attend bomb-sniffing school. A few months later, they are paired with police officers from around the country for the 10-week team training. After graduation, the dogs go to live with their new partners.

Gonzales shows me what he and Dasty are trained to do. He walks past a row of luggage, pointing to each bag with an up-and-down motion. Dasty's nose follows the imaginary trail. If he finds anything that smells like an explosive device, he stops and sits, so that Gonzales can investigate. The two spend their days checking luggage, freight and cargo areas, airplanes and cars pulling up to the terminal. They are also on-call to work at big venues such as the Alamodome, if needed.

If Dasty finds anything that smells like an explosive device, Gonzales tosses him a toy as a reward. "The dogs are amazing at locating the smells," says Gonzales. But since there are usually no hits, Gonzales must constantly train Dasty to keep his skills ready for the day when they may have a real threat. Explosive training aids are kept at the airport so that they can train three to five days a week or more.

By day, Dasty looks for potential explosive devices at the San Antonio airport with Gonzales; at night, he's curled up by Gonzales' side watching television. It's really a dog's dream job: 16 hours a day alongside his best friend.

More and more cities are clamoring for these specially trained dogs, so the TSA is always in need of families to foster the puppies. It's a good gig for a family who wants to experience a puppy, but who can't make the lifetime commitment of a pet. If you would like to foster one of the puppies (the TSA needs about 10 foster families a month) and live in South Texas, call (210) 292-4355.

If you want to see one of these dogs in action, Gonzales and Dasty will demonstrate their bomb detection techniques at Temple Beth El's Blessing of the Animals at 2:15 p.m. Oct. 22 in the parking lot at West Ashby Place and San Pedro Avenue.

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