Meet Bear and Kyle, a CBSA detector dog team in Windsor

For Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) detector dogs, every day is a game. 

The dogs play an important part in curbing the flow of drugs, weapons and currency across the border. There were more than 25,000 detector dog searches at border crossings across Canada last year. 

They're one of the CBSA's most reliable tool, officer Kyle Hardy says, because of their mobility: Anywhere it's safe for a dog, they can work. But the dogs don't view it as work: Because their training is reward-based, they see it more as a game, Hardy says. 

Hardy is a CBSA veteran of 25 years, and with 18-month-old Bear forms a detector dog team based in Windsor — where the CBSA's detector dog program actually started in 1978 before it was rolled out across Canada. 

He spoke to Afternoon Drive's Travis Dolynny about the program, Bear's training and what it takes to make a good detector dog. 

This Q&A has been edited for length and clarity. 

So what can you tell us about the detector dog that you're working with now?

Well my partner, the detector dog I have now, his name is Bear. He is an 18-month-old male German shorthair pointer and Labrador retriever mix. Very energetic, loves the game.

Alright, what's your relationship like with Bear?

It's very intense, one-on-one with with Bear. I just returned with him in May. So he's a young dog. I'm learning his behaviour and just as much, he's learning my behaviour.

Now, does Bear stay with you all the time or or do you come and go during the day?

Bear is with me all the time. He's with me at work here, which is play for him, and then when we go home he's with me as well.

So what kinds of dogs typically become detector dogs?

Well, we look at a number of different breeds. They come to us from all different areas — sometimes from breeders, sometimes from rescues, sometimes from houses where people have them as a family pet.