St. Louis, Missouri – October 2019 - The St. Louis City and St. Louis County Police Departments use Vapor Wake bomb sniffing dogs to help keep people safe.

“My partner is K9 young,” said Officer Michael Cognasso of the St. Louis Police Department. “He's a Labrador retriever. His specialty is explosive detection.” 

Six year old K9 young is training today. The dog can sniff out hidden explosives in a room, but he can also do it in a crowd. He's a vapor wake dog.  He is specially trained to smell the faint sent of explosives.

“So if I'm carrying a book bag and it has some explosive odor in it about four feet from the actual odor, he'll start falling to the ground,” Officer Cognasso said. “The dog locates the odor and what he does is starts searching on his own.”

“I have to pay attention to his demeanor and how he's working,” Officer Cognasso said. “And he will locate the odor on a particular individual.”

Vapor wake dogs protect a large number of people at an event. This scientifically based method, employs dogs to detect hand carried and body-worn hazardous materials.

“One of the events that we've done is the Garth Brooks concert,” Officer Cognasso said. “We also work  every ball game.”

“They are highly trained in very sensitive perception, St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden said. “They are able to sniff out things that would go undetectable.”

“He is an awesome dog,” Officer Cognasso said. “He's a great partner and I have a hundred percent confidence in him.”

You can see these dogs at concerts, sporting events and conventions in St. Louis.