PO3 June Carlo Sumile of Mandaue police’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Canine Group goes through the daily training routine of his K9 partner, Genie. (CDN PHOTO/ JUNJIE MENDOZA)
Marks of dog bites and scratches on his arms show how he painstakingly took care and trained Genie.
But for PO3 June Carlo Sumile, the pain, sweat and even blood that he shed are all worth it as Genie, a seven-year-old Belgian Malinois dog, has become dependable in responding to bomb-related threats.
“It wasn’t easy training him. I got bitten, scratched, but it was part of the job. I have to treat him like a human being. Sometimes, I look like a fool because I talk to him as if he is a person,” said Sumile, an operative of the Mandaue City Police Office’s (MCPO) Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team.
Sumile is one of just two handlers of MCPO’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Canine (EOD/K9) Group.
Sumile is the one handling Genie, while SPO2 Bimon Montebon is assigned to Kerby, another seven-year-old male Belgian Malinois.
The unit owns a third bomb-sniffing dog; but Gunther, a female and also a Belgian Malinois, is still seven months old and is still under training.
Each dog is worth P499,000, according to Sumile.
MCPO acquired the bomb-sniffing dogs from Camp Crame in 2011.
MCPO and the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office (LLCPO) are the only police units in Cebu to own bomb-sniffing dogs.
“We were fortunate when we (MCPO) were chosen as one of the recipients of the bomb-sniffing dogs,” Sumile said.
Sumile and Genie trained together in November 2011 in Alfonso, Cavite. The training lasted for six months.
The basic K9 training course had several steps that include socialization and bonding stages.
“Genie was taught to socialize. It was also in the period where it was determined if he had a drive to learn, such as in detecting explosives,” said Sumile.
The bonding period involved the handler and the dog.
“It is where we got to know each other well. I talked to him a lot. I familiarized his behavior. You really have to be patient when training a dog because there are times when they don’t respond to your command,” said Sumile.
Using the carrot-and-stick approach is the key in training a dog.
“You let them do something and when they accomplish it, you give them a reward like a toy or a food,” Sumile said.
Sumile said there are two types of dogs used by law enforcers: the explosive detector dog and the narcotics detector dog.
An explosive detector dog can recognize chemicals used as key ingredients in making explosives such as ammonium nitrate (for dynamite); C4 (for bombs); black powder (for bullets/firecrackers) and TNT (for grenades).
Narcotic detector dogs are used in detecting illegal drugs.
A must-have
The importance of having a bomb-sniffing dog was highlighted last July 19 when seven public schools in Cebu City were rocked by bomb hoaxes.
Chaos broke out when someone called the Department of Education (DepEd)–Cebu City Division along Imus Road in Cebu City, threatening that a bomb was planted in the building.
Seven schools also received the same threats. No bomb was recovered from the seven schools and the DepEd building, but the prank calls caused panic among parents and pupils.
“It is really important to have an EOD/K9 team to address such situation. Even if it turns out a hoax, we take every threat seriously,” said Sumile.
But Sumile said acquiring bomb-sniffing dogs is not easy not only because they are expensive but they also have to be handled with utmost care for them to be effective.
Gunther, Kerby and Genie have a monthly budget of P3,500 each.
“Sometimes I spent personal money for their needs such as vitamins, food, shampoo, toothpaste and toothbrush,” said Sumile.
The three dogs are fed twice a day — 7 a.m. for breakfast and 5 p.m. for dinner.
“I bathe them every other day and brush their teeth every day. Not only I am his trainer, I am also his dietician, veterinary and nutritionist,” said Sumile.
Sumile said the dogs usually bite him when he cleans their ears.
“They are most sensitive with their ears. They don’t have a hand to push you, so they bite you to tell you that they are experiencing some pain,” said Sumile.
Genie’s daily routine
Genie’s daily training includes running.
Sumile said a daily exercise is needed to improve Genie’s agility.
“He has to train every day for him not to get tired easily especially in searching a big area,” said Sumile.
A dog like Genie can only work for 45 minutes which is already equivalent to eight hours of working for human beings.
“After 45 minutes, they have to rest because their sense of smelling (things) is no longer that effective and their ability to detect explosives will no longer be accurate,” Sumile said.
Also, part of the daily routine is to have Genie smell gunpowder every day.
“They have to do that every day so they won’t forget the odor of the chemicals,” Sumile said.
When searching for explosives, bomb-sniffing dogs would sit on an object if its contains explosives.
Up for retirement
A breed like Genie’s could live for up to 15 years. For a dog like Genie, one year is equivalent to eight years for a human being.
A bomb-sniffing dog can only be serviceable for seven years, which means Genie is already due for “retirement.”
And Genie retiring is something that is not easy to accept for the 31-year-old Sumile.
“I am going to miss him of course. We’ve been together for several years, and it will be tough if we will not be together anymore,” said Sumile.
Upon retirement, Genie may then be up for adoption.