They’ve got the noses for the business! Meet some of the canines protecting New Yorkers from everything from bedbugs to bombs.
THE GRAND CENTRAL GUARD DOG
Often spotted patrolling the corridors of Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station with a giant grin, 4-year-old German shepherd Dooley might be the MTA’s most enthusiastic employee.
“Every morning, when he sees me in my uniform, he perks up and runs to the door,” insists MTA Police Sgt. William Schade, Dooley’s partner. “He loves coming to work.”
While Dooley is officially owned by the police department, he lives with Schade and his family in Orange County, NY. The dog’s 12-hour workday entails patrolling area commuter rail stations, the LIRR, Metro- North and Staten Island Railway searching for explosives.
Per canine unit tradition, Dooley is named after a fallen soldier. Mark H. Dooley was a first lieutenant in the US Army who died in combat in Iraq in 2005.
Some 30 other dogs were in the running for Dooley’s job. He was chosen for his ability to keep cool on and around the trains, coupled with his friendly demeanor. “The dogs need to be social,” Schade explains. “They are constantly surrounded by the general public.”
THE DE-BUGGER
Seven-year-old beagle Willie earns his keep by ridding the city of the terrorizing pests that all New Yorkers fear and loathe: bedbugs.
The dog’s workday begins with 30 to 45 minutes of exercises to reinforce his bedbug-detecting skills.
“Instead of going to the dog park, Willie does his training routine,” says Frank Alaimo with NY Bed Bug Dogs.
On a typical detection, the beagle arrives at a space with his handler, takes a few minutes to acclimate and then takes a walk through the space. Bedbugs have a distinct smell to dogs. “If he picks up a scent, he sits down and is rewarded with a treat,” explains Alaimo. “It’s a very simple process and very effective.”
After his 5-hour workday, Willie gets to relax around the house of owner Don Frey, Alaimo’s business partner, with his canine colleague and housemate Ruby. “These dogs are trained … to do a specific task that they are highly effective at,” says Alaimo. “They have the same life as any other dog outside of that.”
THE BARKING NARC
Hazard, a 5-year-old Dutch shepherd, has to play the tough guy on the job, but he’s really a fluffy softie.
He works as a drug-sniffing dog, visiting high schools throughout the five boroughs and Long Island to search for illegal substances in students’ lockers. But the shepherd’s adorable face and kind nature can make the job hard. Joe Moldovan, Hazard’s trainer and owner, says the dog often wants to play with students. Moldovan has to tell the kids they can’t pet Hazard, lest he be distracted from the job.
If the doggy narc detects a drug scent, he sits and is rewarded with his favorite toy, a ball. “The ball is a paycheck to him,” Moldovan explains. He says that rewarding Hazard with a toy, not treats, makes the process more like a game than work.
When they’re not out in the field, the duo performs routine exercises with training tools that mimic the scent of drugs like cocaine and weed but are safer for dogs and easier for handlers to possess.
In his off-time, Hazard enjoys frolicking in the grassy yard of Moldovan’s Suffolk County home.