Secret Service Dogs: Not on My Watch... or My Dog's

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SERIOUS HANDLERS. SERIOUS TRAINING.

Secret Service Dogs NOT ON MY WATCH...OR MY DOG’S

By Maria Goodavage

A

man wearing white basketballstyle shorts and a long-sleeved shirt bounded toward the White House fence and vaulted it almost effortlessly. He landed on the soft grass of the north lawn and barely pausing, sprang up and sprinted toward the White House.

President Obama and his family were in residence that evening. There was no telling if the fence jumper was armed, what his intentions were, or if he was just a distraction for something really bad about to go down. And the U.S. Secret Service Emergency Response Team (ERT) at the White House couldn’t afford to try to figure it out.

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OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTO BY PETE SOUZA January/February 2017 | 21

“If you let down your guard on the job, it can change the history of the world.”

Special Agent Bill G.

Canine program manager of the Secret Service

“If you let down your guard on the job,” says Special Agent Bill G., canine program manager of the Secret Service, “it can change the history of the world.”

The intruder wasn’t stopping for anyone. ERT canine handler Marshall M. knew what he had to do. He gave Hurricane, his black Belgian Malinois, a command and loosened his grip on the dog’s lead.

Hurricane flew through the darkness, a black flash against the red and blue lights of the Secret Service vehicles in the background.

To Marshall, he looked like a superhero leaping forward to save the day. The LED lights at the end of the ERT Knight’s Armament SR-16 rifles cast small circles of light on the fence jumper as Hurricane pursued him. The dog didn’t give up or slow down, even when the intruder punched him relentlessly.

The dogs of the U.S. Secret Service have worked in the shadows since the agency’s canine program began 40 years ago. Their mission – protecting the president, vicepresident, their families, presidential candidates, and visiting dignitaries – is seemingly high-profile. But chances are you won’t have heard much about them. They don’t call it the Secret Service for nothing.

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These dogs work long hours, all over the globe, regardless of the political climate or the danger level. They’re among the top frequent fliers of the canine world, with more than 200 flights – many international – during the course of their careers. In presidential campaign years, Secret Service dogs chalk up an average of 36 flights.

Fortunately they’re nonpartisan, and protect Republicans and Democrats with equal vigor.

Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush 41, Clinton, Bush 43, and Obama have all had Secret Service dogs watching out for their safety. So will Donald Trump. The dogs don’t care about politics. What counts to them is what counts in the hearts of most dogs: Making the most important person in their lives happy. Secret Service dogs work tirelessly, simply for their handlers’ heartfelt praise and the bounce of a coveted rubber toy. In other words, their paycheck.

Secret Service explosives detection dogs ply their trade wherever the president goes, sniffing for explosives before the president sets foot in hotel rooms, on streets, and in private homes or public venues. These dogs – trained on every known explosive – have found explosive devices.

But you will not have heard about these “finds.” The Secret Service has never publicly revealed these.

OPSEC (operational security) is more important than positive publicity, no matter how much the agency has needed a dose of good PR. The dogs are taken seriously by security experts. If an explosives detection dog alerts near the White House, it can put the White House on lockdown, prevent the president from leaving or reentering the White House, and interrupt presidential meetings.

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WHAT MOST PEOPLE DON’T KNOW ABOUT SECRET SERVICE DOGS 1. If a Secret Service explosives detection dog alerts near the White House, it can prevent the president from leaving or re-entering the White House, or interrupt presidential meetings.

2. Every visitor to the White House is screened by a dog, but most never realize it. And every vehicle that enters the White House complex gets searched by a dog. The average Secret Service explosives detection canine searches 7,020 vehicles per year.

3. Secret Service dogs are among the top frequent fliers of the canine world, with more than 200 flights — many international — during the course of their careers. In presidential campaign years, Secret Service dogs chalk up an average of 36 flights.

4. Secret Service dogs have found explosive devices, but you will not have heard about these “finds.” The Secret Service has never revealed these because of OPSEC (operational security).

5. With missions as vital as those of Secret Service canine teams, there’s no room for error. “If you let down your guard on the job, it can change the history of the world,” says the USSS agent in charge of the canine program.

6. Emergency Response Team (ERT) dogs — the tactical dogs of the Secret Service — are top dogs, winning gold at a popular K-9 Olympics whenever they attend.

7. Confronted by every type of enemy and scenario in training, USSS ERT handlers sweat in full bite suits in 110-degree heat, get shot at with “sim” rounds, get knocked down like bowling pins by dogs, and apprehend some of the most heinous bad guys imaginable, maintaining absolute control of their dogs at all times.

8. ERT dogs are so well trained that they can be leaping and in mid-air about to bite a “bad guy,” but not follow through if their handlers call them off — with just a single command.

9. Secret Service dogs, like most military dogs, are usually born and raised for a couple of years in European countries such as the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. Most are Belgian Malinois, not German shepherds.

10. Unlike their counterparts in the military, Secret Service canines live with their handlers.

11. Secret Service and military handlers can adopt their canine partners when the dogs retire.

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12. Squirrels, which thrive in the White House area, have been tormenting Secret Service dogs for decades. workingdogmagazine.com

RIGHT: Protecting the president is serious business, and both dogs and handlers thrive on it.

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Secret Service

Every visitor to the White House is screened by a dog, but most never realize it because the dogs work behind a louvre screen. And every vehicle that enters the White House complex gets searched by a dog. The average Secret Service explosives detection canine searches more than 7,000 vehicles per year.

Two years ago the Secret Service began its “friendly dog program” to further expand the circle of protection for the White House, and help stanch suicide bombers and others intent on doing harm. Affable-looking dogs like Labrador retrievers and springer spaniels were trained to sniff for explosives on passersby outside the White House fence. It was the first time the agency had tapped into the abilities of dogs to detect vapor trails of highly specific scents.

The performance and abilities of Secret Service dogs continues to earn them an ever-greater role in a defense strategy that must constantly anticipate new threats, both for the White House and for “the road,” where the asymmetrical nature of the War on Terror is always looming.

“We have to assume Paris is coming,” says lead U.S. Secret Service canine trainer Brian M., referring to the deadly terrorist attacks in the French capital in 2015. “We train for it day and night, in the craziest scenarios possible.”

Regardless of their dogs’ specialty, Secret Service canine handlers share one unspoken mantra: “Not on my watch. Or my dog’s.”

Former USA Today journalist Maria Goodavage is considered one of the foremost author experts on the training and service of military working dogs after the publications of her critically-acclaimed New York Times bestselling books, Soldier Dogs, and Top Dog, about Marine hero Lucca, who recently received the Dickin Medal for bravery.

Goodavage’s experience and knowledge earned her the trust of the United States Secret Service, and now she offers readers the results of her unprecedented access to its canine program in Secret Service Dogs: The Heroes Who Protect the President of the United States.​ She has appeared on numerous national TV shows, including The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and Today, and has given talks about military dogs at the New York Stock Exchange, National Museum of the United States Air Force, and other large venues.

Goodavage lives in San Francisco with her family and yellow Lab puppy, Gus, who is a living memorial to a fallen military dog and handler she wrote about in Top Dog. More on his special story another time.

Website: mariagoodavage.com

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