Kyoto is a dog with three distinct personalities. On one hand, he’s like every other 3-year-old yellow Labrador retriever who likes to yank on chew toys and roll over on his back for belly rubs. He also has no idea he’s too big to be a lapdog and takes advantage of anyone who sits down. When he’s not playing like most dogs, he also likes a good nap.
The day Cowboy State Daily caught up with him, Kyoto lazed in the shade provided by handler Eric Siwik’s leg as he rested on the pavement by his feet outside the Wyoming State Fire Marshal’s training center in Riverton. Where he differs from other dogs, however, is his day job sniffing out accelerants as Wyoming’s first arson-detecting dog.
This side of his personality was immediately apparent when Siwik strapped a black bag around his waist, which brought Kyoto to his feet and signified it was time to get to work. It also signals mealtime, and it’s the only time Kyoto gets to eat.
On the ground outside of the lightly singed house used for fire training, Siwik set up an obstacle course for the canine filled with various burned items — pieces of wood, cardboard and a stuffed animal among other things — some containing a small dropper’s worth of gasoline.
This is one of many petroleum distillates that Kyoto is trained to detect as he quickly made his way through the course, sniffing items until he sat down next to a piece of burned rug. That’s his way of indicating the accelerant.
Cowboy State Daily
AloJapan.com