The secret of the "four-legged agent" protecting the US President

Service dogs are an indispensable part of the security force that ensures the safety of the US President when he travels abroad, so this army is trained very professionally.

Service dogsK9 is an elite unit of the US Secret Service established in the 1970s. Their outstanding skills are sniffing, detecting explosives, mines and quickly handling attackers. They are selected and trained to be ready to perform one of the most important jobs: protecting the President.

To become an elite dog in the President's protection ranks, they must undergo testing and training in extremely strict and harsh training schools. Initially, German Shepherd dogs were the number one choice because they had more suitable qualities. However, by the 1990s, Belgian Malinois dogs began to be noticed and selected for their more outstanding abilities.

Both are extremely intelligent, agile, strong, fierce and highly alert dog breeds. The Belgian Shepherd is smaller in size but has more strength, large muscles and more flexible attack ability. They have extremely fast speeds of about 40-50 km/h.

The outstanding feature of the service dogs is their extremely sensitive sense of smell. They are able to sniff out many different types of explosives and detect targets within seconds. A US Secret Service dog can detect small amounts of explosives placed in bags or even in containers within a radius of 100 meters.

Strict training from childhood

The training of a Secret Service dog begins at a very young age. A Secret Service agent will be assigned to train a specific dog and the dog will work with that handler for the rest of its career. The love and understanding between the handler and the dog is one of the most important things that helps the pair work effectively.

Before entering the official team, they must undergo a highly concentrated training with their handlers within 5 months. During working time, they must continue to train professionally 8 hours/week.

During their work, the dogs protecting the President must always try to ensure a minimum weight and speed. If they do not meet this standard, they must immediately be transferred to another department to take on other tasks.

For example, a Belgian Shepherd must weigh 34 kg and have a minimum speed of 40 km/h. This shows the strictness in selecting elite police dogs to protect the head of the United States.

American service dogs also receive salaries and promotions during their service in the US Secret Service. They are also considered real soldiers, four-legged heroes. They wear badges and identification numbers like security officers.

Typically, after 10 years of service, American service dogs will end their service and be “retired”. After that, they will be adopted by their trainers or found a new home to rest.

According to statistics, police dogs are one of the most frequently traveled dog breeds in the world. Each year, K-9 police dogs take more than 200 flights.

To perform their duties, police dogs are equipped with modern military uniforms and electronic devices, such as bulletproof vests with many pockets and straps to attach devices to the dog's body. K9 Storm of Canada, one of the units that produces armor for American police dogs, once revealed that each vest costs about 22,000 USD.

They are also equipped with special cameras, GPS devices to determine their location, life jackets, eye protection, oxygen masks to protect against toxic gases. There are even police dogs with titanium-coated fangs that can bite through enemy body armor.

It is known that the most taboo thing for secret agents is to let strangers know the dog's name. Because this will endanger each dog when attacking criminals or will distract their concentration.

Presidential trips

In 2015, during former US President Obama’s visit to India, before Air Force One landed, Secret Service agents brought 40 service dogs to New Delhi. During their time on duty, they stayed with their handlers at luxury hotels.

The most prominent of the police dogs protecting Mr. Obama are two dogs named Hurricane and Jordan, special members who once achieved success when they stopped and then took down an intruder in the White House.

Hurricane, 7 years old, and Jordan, 6 years old, are two Belgian Shepherd dogs. According to the description of the US Secret Service, these two dogs are usually friendly and close when around children but will become aggressive and act decisively, accurately and at high speed when facing dangerous objects.

They are capable of shooting like a bullet, at speeds of nearly 50 km/h and have an eye field of view of up to 270 degrees.

During his visit to Vietnam in May 2016, former US President Obama was accompanied by a team of K-9 service dogs numbering about 20-30, alongside a large force of security personnel and secret service agents.

In November 2017, during a trip to Vietnam to attend the APEC conference in Da Nang, the US Secret Service brought its most elite service dogs to protect President Donald Trump.