1. All breeds are suitable
In principle, any dog breed is suitable to be trained
to search drugs, but at the moment, the majority
of the drug detector dogs of Finnish Customs are
Labrador Retrievers of which there is long-term re-
liable information available regarding their use in
anti-drug work. Also a few Border Collies and an
English Springer Spaniel are being used.
The dogs that are selected for drug detector dog
training are to be healthy, social, energetic, brave,
strong, cooperative and physically fit. Since drug
detector dogs have to work at varying places, such
as in ships, warehouse areas and containers, it has
to have a positive attitude towards different work-
ing environments and must not be scared of loud
noises.
Drug detector dogs must also be friendly towards
people, since the dogs work amongst people in
passenger terminals, for instance.
Family dogs
Drug detector dogs are moved directly from the
breeder to the home of the handler, where it usu-
At about one year’s age, the puppy’s character and
learning skills are tested. The intention is to test
the puppy’s readiness for training. The test shows
whether the puppy has such problems that may be
a barrier to its development into a drug detector
dog.
The dog starts training at the Customs Dog Train-
ing Centre at the age of one year. During its basic
training, the dog receives instruction accompanied
with work practice for three months. After that,
during its working career, it is each year given fur-
ther training which also includes physical exami-
nations. 2008
Drug detector dogs
of Finnish Customs
– Sharp-sensed sniffers
against smuggling
ally lives the rest of its life as a family member, also
after its retirement after about seven years of serv-
ice.
The training starts right after the puppy has been
handed over to the handler, at about the age of
seven weeks. At first, the puppy will be taught ba-
sic toilet and other manners as well as social skills
which also include familiarization with the future
workplace and workmates.

2. One of the tasks of Finnish Customs is product con-
trol which also aims at protecting citizens. It com-
prises e.g. anti-piracy work and monitoring of the
safety of imported foods.
The smuggling of drugs, illicit medicinal substanc-
es and cigarettes has increased continuously and
will be increasing further along with the new sub-
stances, transport methods and routes developed
by criminal groups. To prevent smuggling and the
distribution of illegally imported products to street
sale is one of the key tasks of Finnish Customs.
Customs protects society in
many ways
The basic tasks of Finnish Customs include besides
taxation also prevention of the smuggling of ille-
gal and dangerous substances and goods as well
as combat of economic crime. Customs criminal
investigation uses efficient enforcement methods
and modern tools. In order to achieve best possible
results, Finnish Customs cooperates with experts in
various fields as well as national and international
authorities. International cooperation in crime pre-
vention between customs authorities has yielded
good results in uncovering offences and criminal
organisations.
Unbribable
sniffers
There are about 40 detector dog-handler pairs
working at Finnish customs offices in different
parts of Finland. The dogs have been selected from
carefully examined litters and trained at Customs’
own Dog Training Centre. The training of one drug
detector dog costs about 6 000 euros.
Dog handlers are selected from among Customs’
employees. After receiving a dog, the handler com-
mits to training and takeing care of the dog during
its entire working life. It is often the case that the
dog lives as a family member of the handler also
after its retirement after about seven active work-
ing years.
A considerable part of the narcotics offences detect-
ed by Finnish Customs has been uncovered with
the help of trained detector dogs. Some technical
tools to complement the work done by the detector
dogs are being developed but, for the time being,
the dogs are unbeatable as far as searching drugs
is concerned. A dog’s sense of smell is extremely
strong compared to that of a human. Whereas a hu-
man can identify smells over an area of one square
meter, a dog can identify smells over an area the
size of a football field.
”I work here!
Please be kind and
let me work in peace!”
Drug detector dogs need peace to be able to work.
When you see a dog with its handler in a passen-
ger terminal, for instance, please do not go and pat
it. Approaches from unfamiliar people may cause
stress to the dog.
You can help Customs by calling in your
observations
to the tip-off phone
0800 1 4600
or by giving a tip-off anonymously
on internet form at the address
www.tulli.fi
We are at your service 24 hours a day!