OSCE organizes training of trainers course for canine border guards in Turkmenistan

An OSCE-organized training of trainers (ToT) course for canine border guards opened on 17 February 2025 in the Farap etrap (district) of the Lebap velayat (region) of Turkmenistan. The five-day course brought together twenty-four canine officers, veterinarians and dog breeders and is the last of five ToT course series conducted in each velayat of Turkmenistan.

The Centre engaged two certified national canine experts and a national canine veterinarian to deliver the course series, which were organized in close partnership with the EU BOMCA-10 Programme.The course started with a presentation of a Dog Training Manual developed by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat in close co-operation with canine officers of Turkmenistan. The scenario-based manual aims to provide instructors, trainers and handlers with a common foundation for the basic training and maintenance of working dogs.

The course provides in-depth knowledge about working dogs’ skills, canine techniques, and strategies for dog training. Future canine trainers will master techniques to train dogs in skills necessary for the search and detection of weapons, ammunition, explosives and drugs, as well as rescue and tracking operations.,

In a recorded opening message to participants, John MacGregor, Head of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat, said: “The Centre’s efforts in this particular area need to be regarded in the light of the OSCE commitments related to preventing and combating terrorism.”

“Drug and explosive detection dogs are instrumental in protecting the border, countering terrorism, and combating illegal trafficking of weapons and drugs,” stressed MacGregor.

The course also addresses how to ensure the physical and emotional well-being of working dogs, first aid and physical conditioning of dogs.  

Practical sessions with working/detection dogs by using drug imitators to detect explosives and drugs samples are also part of the course. In this area, too, practical exercises demonstrate that a force-free and dog-centred training based on rewards is effective.

The ToT courses are organized within the framework of the Centre’s extrabudgetary multi-donor project “Strengthening State Border Service Capacities of Turkmenistan” and supported financially by the Government of Germany.