As it has for almost 20 years, the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center this week played host to the National Association for Professional Canine Handlers’ annual training and recertification seminar.

The event prepares police and security dogs and their handlers for real-world scenarios in which they might someday save lives.

Few places besides the CRTC could house the 330 dogs and their humans who attended this year’s training, said Gordon Morse, master trainer for the association.

Dogs came from across the continent — including one who traveled three days from Nova Scotia — to sniff out explosives, track humans, find drugs, and practice attack techniques, both on the CRTC campus and at sites around Alpena.

News Photo by Julie Riddle Steve Hendrixson, deputy from the Kent County Sheriff’s Office, rewards his dog, Ghost, after an explosives materials find at Huron Shores Fellowship during a training exercise on Wednesday.

The animals and humans will carry lessons learned in Northeast Michigan home with them, using the training to better protect residents from dangers best detected by a dog’s nose.

On Wednesday morning, dogs whimpered and barked in the parking lot of Huron Shores Fellowship, waiting their turn to search for explosives.

“That’s just the excitement and the drive leaking out,” said Krystal Stuart, deputy from the Kent County Sheriff’s Office.

Kai, Stuart’s German shepherd-Belgian malinois mix, crouched and trembled with eagerness as the pair waited to enter the church.

Police use more than 20 dogs in Kent County, relying on them to find walkaways from adult foster homes, track people running from a traffic stop, sweep performance venues, or find drugs, Stuart said.

News Photo by Julie Riddle A bomb detection dog on Wednesday awaits a training exercise during a National Association for Professional Canine Handlers event hosted by the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center this week.

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In Northeast Michigan, only one police agency — the Michigan State Police-Alpena Post — maintains a canine team, although the Presque Isle County Sheriff’s Office recently received the go-ahead and funding to train a dog for search and drug detection.

The public is often leery of police use of canines for apprehension, but, Stuart said, police dogs prevent violence.

“These are compliance tools,” she said. “We want to use them so people comply so we don’t have to get hands-on.”

Trained dogs also alert officers to dangerous people hidden in the shadows and find missing children in a quarter of the time, compared to a human searcher, Stuart said.

News Photo by Julie Riddle Krystal Stuart, deputy from the Kent County Sheriff’s Office, checks a restroom door before sending her dog to search for explosives materials at Huron Shores Fellowship in Alpena on Wednesday.

“They are smart,” she said, ruffling her dog’s fur as their turn inside the church neared. “And they like to tell you they’re smart, too.”

Before the morning’s rotation of dogs arrived, organizers hid TNT and other materials used in explosives in three top-secret locations around and in the church for the dogs to find.

Stuart and Kai checked a church hallway, the dog racing in high-energy loops.

The pair worked with Stuart’s partner, Steve Hendrixson, and his dog, Ghost. Kai could have handled the building alone, but, Stuart told a trainer, the dogs needed to practice working as a team to be ready to respond to bomb threats at the large schools the officers encounter downstate.

Nationwide, hospitals use canines even more than police do, said Jason Neimczewski, who works for a private security company.

News Photo by Julie Riddle Steve Hendrixson, deputy from the Kent County Sheriff’s Office, rewards his dog, Ghost, after an explosives materials find at Huron Shores Fellowship during a training exercise on Wednesday.

“Soft targets. Angry people,” he explained, preparing his dog to search for explosives.

Inside the church, a trainer pointed out one handler’s mistakes, noting that the handler had left himself and his dog exposed to danger by not clearing one area before moving on to the next.

The week’s training in Alpena gives handlers more than just practice — it exposes them to master trainers and hundreds of other experienced dog handlers willing to share their expertise, said Hendrixson, patting the German shepherd he called his best friend.

Dogs circled the church’s exterior, lithe bodies surging forward at full alert as they nosed around every crevice.

Dog teams go first, clearing the area to protect the first responders coming close behind, Neimczewski said.

Handlers, in tune with their canine partners, watched for breathing changes and other signals their dog had latched on to a scent.

In the church’s sanctuary, where trainers had hidden explosives materials under a row of chairs, swiftly-moving dogs one by one came to a sudden halt, checked twice, and then sat, ears pricked, gazing joyfully at their trainers.

Were the emergency real, handlers would quickly move their dog a safe distance away and call in a bomb squad.

At a training, however, handlers have time to give the reward their dogs want — baby talk, hyped-up praise, and a playful tussle with a favorite toy.

“It’s just a big play week for them,” Stuart said. “It’s work for us. We’ve gotta figure out what they can do.”

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693, jriddle@thealpenanews.com or on Twitter @jriddleX.