The Taiwan Customs Detector Dog Breeding and Training Center is in central Taiwan’s Taichung City. It is a specialized facility dedicated to breeding, raising, and training detector dogs for Customs and other government agencies.
Watch the following video on the Taiwan Customs Detector Dog Breeding and Training Center for more images.
Established to enhance Taiwan’s ability to combat smuggling, particularly contraband detection such as tobacco and narcotics, the Center focuses on producing highly skilled dogs, primarily Labradors, known for their keen sense of smell and trainability. The Center’s rigorous program equips these dogs to serve at various customs checkpoints throughout the country, playing a critical role in national security and border protection.
History of the Detector Dog Breeding and Training Center
In response to the growing need for enhanced detection of illegal goods and substances at borders and airports, the initiative to establish a detector dog breeding and training center was launched in December 2000. The cabinet recognized the crucial role well-trained detection dogs could play in law enforcement.
During this process, it was a coincidence that the Directorate General of Customs (now the Customs Administration) discovered that the former Military Canine Center in Taichung City had been abandoned for many years.
After several rounds of negotiation, the Ministry of Defense finally agreed to transfer the 13-hectare property to the Customs. As a result, the Center was officially established in 2007.
The government injected about NT$200 million (US$6.6 million) into renovating various abandoned facilities, completed about a year later. The center’s opening ceremony and the inauguration of its dog breeding center were held together on June 6, 2008.
Australia signed a memorandum on breeding, training, and information sharing in the same year. Shortly thereafter, the Center started breeding and training Labrador retrievers based on Australia’s model.
Five Taiwanese dog handlers were sent to Australia for three months of professional training in the same year. They returned to Taiwan in May 2008 with five trained drug detection dogs, which the Customs soon deployed for field operations.
Since 2011, the Center has provided the quarantine department with 70 Labrador puppies suitable for quarantine dog training at no cost.
In late 2014, the Center completed its first batch of four Labrador tobacco detection dogs and deployed them to Keelung Customs for enforcement duties.
In 2015, the Center started training explosives detection dogs for the Department of National Defense and the Military Police Command. In 2019, it also began collaborating with the Military Police Command to train drug-sniffing dogs.
The breeding and training of detector dogs
The Center produces about 50 to 60 pups per year. Those selected are usually placed in approved volunteer foster families for socialization training at around three months of age. They return to the Center for formal training when they are about one year old, with the optimal age for starting formal training being around 1.5 years.
Once back at the Center, the dogs undergo three stages of training. The first stage is the pre-training. It focuses on classical conditioning and controlled exercises, teaching the dogs passive responses to targets and basic search concepts.
The second stage is the formal training. It lasts 13 weeks and pairs handler trainees with dogs. During this phase, trainees learn dog care, behavioral observation, and essential handler skills. Both handlers and dogs must pass weekly evaluations to complete the program.
After formal training, the dogs are assigned to the field for a six-month internship to hone their tracking skills. At the end of this period, they return to the Center for a two-week course and evaluation.
With the increase in overseas packages, the center aims to train at least 44 handler-dog teams for narcotics detection by 2025. Additionally, they plan to double their capacity within three years, training 100 dogs annually for search and rescue, quarantine, and police work.
Achievements of the Detector Dog Breeding and Training Center
The Center has produced 119 litters, which have produced 862 drug detector dogs. The most significant litter produced to date was 13 puppies.
At present, over 40 trained detector dogs are deployed to the field Customs. Many others have been assigned to the Coast Guard, the Department of National Defense, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency.
According to the Customs Administration, from 1997 to the end of 2023, the Customs drug detection dog teams seized 1,073 cases involving various types of drugs, totaling 12,529 kilograms, with an estimated market value exceeding NT$12 billion (US$3.96 billion).
In particular, President Tsai Ing-wen honored Ennis, a customs detection dog, on July 1, 2022, as the nation’s top drug detection dog for his outstanding performance. After being deployed to Taipei Customs in 2018, Ennis had intercepted 27 drug trafficking cases and seized 136 kilograms of drugs by the end of 2021.
Many other heroic detector dogs have made significant contributions to Taiwan’s efforts against drug trafficking. One such dog is Bernie (2008-2022), a Labrador retriever who served with the Customs from 2011 to 2016. Bernie successfully detected 12 major drug smuggling cases totaling 1,430 kilograms. His notable finds included 72 kilos of amphetamines hidden in a shipment of LED lighting fixtures, 1,080 kilos of the drug precursor ephedrine falsely declared as a chemical, and 8 kilos of ketamine concealed in motorcycle handlebars.
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