A 10-month-old Labrador retriever named Valley doesn't look the part, but she might be the newest tool to help defend against mass shooters, bomb threats and other mayhem directed at schools.

Valley, a female whose nose is specially trained to sniff out explosives, including gunpowder, is the kind of dog that has been used for years at airports, stadiums, hospitals, parades and other places that draw big crowds. Now, the Rochester Hills company that trained her sees a growth market in schools.

"We're actually talking to some school districts that are anticipating fall rollouts," said Gregory Guidice, who runs Elite Detection K9. "We are seeing more and more schools looking for this type of security because it's proactive."

Last year, after a gunman killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, a series of copycat threats were lodged across the country, forcing more than 100 schools to close, including several in metro Detroit.

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Police responded to the threats, but Guidice said he's negotiating with several school districts to provide dogs to them on a contract basis. The dogs would conduct regular sweeps and patrol high school football games, plays and other events that draw crowds. He wouldn't name the districts.

Schools could buy a dog of their own, but to maintain their effectiveness, the animals must be trained on real explosives, which makes a contract more feasible, Guidice said.

At one time, Detroit Public Schools Community District had its own K9 unit, but disbanded it, spokeswoman Chrystal Wilson said.

"Re-establishing a K-9 officer with a specific explosive detection discipline is something that we are considering for the Detroit Public Schools Community District in the future," she said.

For now, Detroit schools contracts with Detroit Police for detection dog service. Most districts have a similar arrangement with police departments or sheriff's offices for dogs when needed.

Guidice said more dogs in schools makes sense.

"It just makes it a harder target," Guidice said. "It's much more of a proactive approach."

In addition to finding contraband, the dogs serve as a deterrent because people who see them don't know what they are capable of detecting.

Dog demand

Detection dogs are in high demand and private vendors are springing up to supply them not only to schools, but also to businesses, hospitals and cargo shipping facilities.

"We are seeing an increase in the private security providing these services," said David Ferland, executive director of the United States Police Canine Association, the nation's oldest, largest certification group for police dogs. "There's more work than law enforcement can provide work for."

There are differences between police dogs and those handled by private companies, Ferland said. Police officers with a dog have the ability to order a bomb squad and possess policing powers to order evacuations if an explosive is found.

"They are still going to have to call the police," Ferland said of private companies.

Beaumont Hospital has used bomb-sniffing dogs for almost 20 years, said Bill Ferreras, a lieutenant with hospital security. He has never found an explosive, but dogs provide other benefits, such as calming down rowdy people in the emergency room.

"The dogs work great for crowd control," he said. "All you do is show up with a dog and everyone just stops."

Accurate tallies on numbers of teams in America are hard to find. About five years ago, the University of Pennsylvania estimated there were 10,000 teams in the country. The federal government estimates an additional 5,000 teams will be needed in coming years, Ferland said.

Police departments typically spend about $15,000 to $25,000 in the first year to buy, equip, train and certify a detection dog, Ferland said. The following years are cheaper and a typical working career for such a dog is about eight years, he said.

Ferland's group typically puts a dog through more than 400 hours of training before it is tested. Dogs must be recertified annually.

In addition to being able to smell, the dogs also must have the right temperament, Ferland said. They must tolerate crowds and the noise and movements that go with them.

Dog capabilities

Belgian Malinois, German shepherds, golden retrievers and Labradors are the most common breeds used in detection work. They can be trained to find the odors of humans and human remains, fire accelerants, drugs and explosives, including gunpowder.

"If the gun is loaded, it will contain gunpowder and the dog will be able to detect that," Ferland said.

John Pearce runs VWK9, an Alabama-based company that uses a training method patented by Auburn University. Known as Vapor Wake, the method teaches dogs to search specifically for guns and other weapons in crowds of people. The company provides dogs to Amtrak as well as professional and college sports teams.

"We're searching the ambient air around people," Pearce said. "Vapor Wake technology is the detection of any type of body-worn or -carried material, weapons or explosives. We don't do narcotics."

Pearce said his company provided dogs to Wayne State University and other universities and is now fielding more inquiries from school districts.

The ability of dogs to detect odors is keen and getting keener through training and breeding, said Paul Waggoner, co-director of the Canine Performance Sciences program at Auburn's College of Veterinary Medicine.

"The dog is basically a mobile sensing device," he said. "It has improved over time and it continues to be improved."

There are limitations to a dog's ability to find things, Waggoner said. The dog must come in contact with molecules of odor that came from the explosives or other contraband.

"Those dogs are not inspecting people as much as they are inspecting the plume of odor that comes off them," he said.

A big game

At a demonstration at Oakland County Community College's CREST training center in Auburn Hills last week, Valley's trainer, Ric Hetu showed how it works.

He hid samples of dynamite and smokeless black gunpowder inside desk drawers in a building on the campus that looks like a local bank branch. Once they were in place, he brought Valley in from his truck and commanded her to find them.

The dog walked through the building and almost immediately detected the scent. Instead of scratching at the drawers like a drug detection dog might do, explosive detection dogs are trained to sit down in front of it as a signal something is inside.

"It's a passive response," Guidice said. "If there's an explosive in there, you don't want the dog ripping at it."

As a reward for her find, Hetu gave Valley a ball to play with pulling on it to engage her in the fun.

"It's all a big game to the dog," he said.

Contact John Wisely: 313-222-6825 or jwisely@freepress.com. On Twitter @jwisely