Detector Dog Major
and Dog Handler Simone Ackermann
San Bernardino County
Detector Dog Major
Major, a 72 lb Labrador Retriever, was born in July, 2016 and was adopted by USDA from the Humane Society in Elmore County, Alabama in July 2017. He completed agriculture detector dog training at the National Detector Dog Training Center in Georgia in December 2017 and was subsequently transferred to be the newest addition to Contra Costa County’s two dog teams detecting packages at parcel delivery facilities.
Major is a very sweet and happy dog with a strong work ethic. He loves to find and alert to parcels with agricultural products, and because he loves all people, he is very much at ease working at FedEx and UPS. When not hard at work, he is always up for a good game of fetch of any object thrown, a hike, or a good belly-rub.
Unwanted pests hitching a ride in the mail are a threat to California's billion-dollar agriculture, but they're no match for Dozer the Detector Dog. (CBS 13) (1:41)
The latest weapon against pests threatening California’s $2 billion agriculture business is Dozer, a canine trained to sniff out fruit insects (03:32)
Cody Stark meets "Dozer," a dog trained to protect California agriculture from plant pests and diseases by detecting undeclared plant material and insects in packages.
(03:26)
Friday was forced into retirement at the age of nine, but she's not ready to give up sniffing boxes. She now lives with her handler, Jeremy Partch, where she's learning how to be...a pet. (2:52)
Canine inspectors at shipping facilities and airport terminals from Sacramento to San Diego detect undeclared produce and plants in packages, to prevent the introduction of invasive plant pests into California. (02:46)