The Detector Dog Program is vital to Customs border management and has evolved significantly since 1969 when Customs had only two dogs, recruitment being from animal shelters, dog pounds and people with unwanted pets. From these early beginnings the Program continued to grow throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

Many other agencies also use dogs bred by Customs, including the Australian Defence Force, the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service and State and Territory police. Customs-bred dogs have been deployed in a variety of fields, including arson detection, food detection and/or explosives and firearms detection.  The 'puppy foster carer' scheme is a key component of the breeding and development program. Foster families care for pups in their homes for up to 12 months. The pups' progress is monitored as they are socialised into different environments. All food, medical and associated costs are covered by Customs.

Since 1993, Customs has bred more than 1,000 puppies, most of which have been successfully deployed throughout Australia and overseas as operational detector dogs.

The Seeing Eye,® Inc., is the oldest existing dog guide school in the world. Twelve times a year, as many as 24 students at a time visit the Morristown, N.J., campus to discover the exhilarating experience of traveling with a Seeing Eye dog.

Our students – people who are blind or visually impaired – come from all over the United States and Canada to spend up to a month training with a new Seeing Eye dog. They range in age from 16 to senior citizens, their home environments may be rural or urban, and they may be homemakers, volunteers, or judges. But they all have this in common: They are motivated by a sense of independence and armed with the knowledge that Seeing Eye dogs will provide an extra edge to attain success, however they may choose to define it.