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At the start of the Fall 2012 football season, �鶹AV
police officers welcomed a new partner: Pepper. The 2-year-old German shepherd is an explosives-detection dog.

“Pepper provides a way to detect a threat and help prevent an emergency rather than react to one,” Sgt. Mike LaSalle, Pepper’s handler, told La Louisiane.

LaSalle engages the dog in daily training sessions. “I give her a different environment every time, sweeping buildings or parking lots, or searching baggage. The most important thing is that she thinks it’s fun. For her, it’s a game. She’s searching for her toy.” Pepper’s “toy” is an 8-inch piece of plastic pipe.

Trainers adapt the dogs’ hunting instincts — the way wild dogs or wolves would behave pursuing prey — to desired tasks, such as drug or explosives detection, LaSalle explained. Pepper is trained exclusively to find the scent of explosives.

“By training the dog to associate particular scents with their natural search-and-find behaviors, they produce a dog that ‘goes to work’ to find drugs or explosives.”

An anonymous donor covered the cost of the dog and a six-week training period for LaSalle to learn to work with her, which totaled $9,800. Pepper lives with LaSalle at his home, where he has two other dogs, a Doberman pinscher and pit bull terrier. “She doesn’t really have an ‘off button.’ If it were up to her, she’d be working all the time,” LaSalle said. Being with other dogs gives Pepper a chance to relax and socialize.

Pepper was born in Slovakia, a Central European country, and imported to the United States via The Netherlands. “Dog vendors import Belgian shepherds and German shepherds for police work. We tested several dogs of both breeds. Pepper tested highest for both temperament and work ethic, so she was our choice,” LaSalle said.

U.S. K-9, an importation and training center in Kaplan, La., helped the University Police Department acquire the dog. That’s where she and LaSalle conducted their initial training.

Although she’s not a commissioned officer, Pepper is a valued member of the department, said LaSalle. It acquired the dog to enhance the University’s emergency response capability.

“The need for a dog like Pepper is really a reflection of the world we live in today,” said LaSalle.

One reason the department added Pepper was because the University regularly hosts sports and entertainment events.Pepper is used at all football games, for example. “We can clear an area in advance to make sure it’s secure.”

He and the dog also are on call to help other agencies. They responded to a local high school after a threatening note was discovered, for example. They also assisted a local police department by conducting a sweep of a home before a tactical team was sent inside. Officials had believed explosives were within the residence.

When Pepper detects the scent of explosives, she gives a “passive alert.” Instead of barking, or pawing at the ground, she sits quietly, awaiting her rewards: praise from her handler and a chance to play with her cherished toy.

If she were to give an alert during an actual search, Louisiana State Police would dispatch its Ordnance Disposal Team to handle any suspicious packages.

“We want to be proactive and we want to make ourselves the hardest target,” LaSalle said.