TSA External Decoy Program: Volunteers can assist in training dogs at Sky Harbor Airport

PHOENIX - The Transportation Security Administration has over 20 layers of security at Sky Harbor Airport, including K9s.

"It gives us another barrier between the public and what we're doing for screening. It also expedites our screening, and it expedites our passengers as they proceed through the security check point on a daily basis," said Lisa Nagy, a lead TSA officer.

"When they go through K9 screening, we need them to walk at a certain pace at a certain rhythm, so that the dog can process and go behind them.. and they can scent, and they can smell, they can do their job as a K9."

"We train every day, pretty much. I tell people my job is to make the place, like the airport, fun for him (K9 officer Flex). Lots of play, lots of training, just making it fun so he wants to come to work.. wants to do this, said Preston Lauer, who is a TSA explosive detective K9 handler. 

Lauer has been with the TSA for 15 years and partnered with Flex for nearly six. The detective says the black lab loves his job. Coming to work is considered a treat and the best way to ensure Flex stays focused, is training.

"It's very helpful. I mean the dogs love it, we love it, because it gives us a chance to see the dog just being himself, doing what he is trained to do."

And here's the thing: any one of these passengers could be part of that training – an external decoy.

"Each dog needs different things and the handlers will tell our trainer what the dog needs or the trainer will figure that out, and then we will just get the decoy to help us."

Watch FOX 10 Phoenix Live:

The External Decoy Program invites members of the public to apply and help train the dogs.

"Every day, each dog goes through multiple hours of training to just keep sharp and what we need is to make the environment realistic, and we have to get the odors and basically the training aids by the decoy so they know something could be possibly coming," said Kevin Schutzenhofer with the community outreach at Sky Harbor. 

For security purposes, we can't show you what a volunteer decoy looks like, but here's a training scenario. That person leaves behind a bag, check out what happens when the dog finds it.

"Our dogs, they will try to cheat as much as they can as we let them and so the external decoy program helps us get people outside the airport in here, helping us use them as decoys, use them kind of as the passenger."

On any given day, there could be multiple decoys. Training sessions last about four hours. Volunteers must be at least 18, and have a clean record. They must be willing to work in the early morning hours. The TSA will pick volunteers up at the Phoenix office sometimes as early as 4:00 a.m.

"Sometimes it will take several months before you actually get to do the job and help us out, and we can only use you once every 45 days or so, because we don't want dogs to get used to the same people because they are just like us. They notice somebody.. it's harder to fool the dog and that's what we are really here to do.. fool the dog."

The TSA K9s sniff out bombs, accelerants, explosives. They screen aircraft, vehicles, luggage, and passengers.

Training, especially with decoys, is key to doing the job right.

"Ultimately, we want him to find what he's supposed to be looking for," said Lauer.

If you're interested in volunteering, email PHXTSAK9@tsa.dhs.gov.