Customs authorities are seeking qualified families to adopt and help train puppies aged eight weeks to one year in an effort to boost the success rate of training sniffer dogs, an official said on Sunday.
“By living with adoptive families, young puppies can better learn to interact with humans, get accustomed to people’s social environment and develop obedience,” an official from the Directorate General of Customs (DGC) said.
“This early stage of social training will improve the quality of the animals and make it easier to train them specifically for drug detection,” the official at the customs office’s sniffer dog training center in Taichung County said.
Housing, behavioral instruction and basic work training for drug-sniffing dogs is different than for pet dogs, which is why prospective adoptive families must meet certain requirements and strictly follow regulations formulated by customs authorities, the official said.
First, prospective families must have a fenced yard so that the puppies can move around freely, but would not be able to run off, the official said, adding that the family members must all like puppies, take pleasure in interacting with them and be able to walk them daily.
The puppies should sleep outdoors and not be fed anything other than the food provided by the DGC’s sniffer dog training center.
During the adoptive period, the DGC will pay for food, medical care, vaccinations and any other expenses, the official said, adding that adoptive families could take the puppies back to the center if they have to travel out of town or go abroad for more than one day.
Meanwhile, the official said individuals are also welcome to help walk the puppies so that the animals could adapt more easily to people’s social environment.
“Individual volunteers would be expected to walk the puppies on the streets or in parks, shopping malls, bus or railway stations and other crowded public places twice a week,” the official said.
Prospective volunteers for adoption or social training can register on the customs office’s Web site, the official said, adding that the center would contact applicants for further details.
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