Bomb Sniffing Dogs Join University of Montana Campus

Two military veterans have joined the University of Montana campus police department — but they're not the type of vets you might think of at first.

Two bomb sniffing black labs Bob and Hooch were donated to UM campus police by the military recently. Both had been stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. 6-year-old Hooch has even served overseas.

The Associated Press reports that a university employee's son, who is a captain at West Point, helped facilitate the move and officers Rich Sitzka and Darren Ginn drove to Missouri last month to pick up the pups.

For the past five years, UM police have hired Rocky Mountain Laboratories' bomb sniffing dog, Nolan to sweep Washington-Grizzly Stadium before a football game. The work took the golden retriever and his handler, Jennifer Nickisch, three to four hours. Officials believe that task can now be done in about an hour. Now, they will be able to turn to two dogs station right here in the Garden City to help prevent any future incidents. AP reports the dogs will be used as security for other events, as well.

The two canines are the newest addition to the University of Montana's police department and have been trained so far as to sniff out explosives in Afghanistan, the Missoulian reported Thursday.

For now, the two labs will call Missoula home, protecting students, faculty, and citizens from potential threats on campus.