Rules Park Rangers Have To Follow In National Parks

National park rangers work with canine officers in a variety of capacities. A much-redacted, publicly accessible version of the National Park Service's Reference Manual outlines some of the rules rangers must follow if they have a dog. It involves some standard stuff, like being responsible for record-keeping, making sure the dog has regular vet care, and being familiar with the dog's capabilities. Now, on to the cool stuff.

Park rangers use their dogs in different ways. Some might be trained to find sea turtle nests, some can detect invasive species, and there's even a group of border collies that work to keep Canadian geese away from national parks in Washington, D.C. (Border collies also work in places like Glacier National Park, helping wild animals stay away from people.) Chasing geese is pretty much a border collie's definition of a good time, but not all park dogs have such fun jobs.

Some dogs work alongside their human counterparts in historical parks, detecting guns and explosives in crowds of people, while others work as drug-sniffing dogs to ferret out everything from drug smugglers to meth labs. Others, of course, work as search-and-rescue dogs, and in some cases, the dogs have to regularly renew certifications or take additional training courses — and it's up to the rangers to see that their dogs meet all the legal requirements to work alongside them. (And yes, when the dogs retire, their handlers have the option of keeping them.)

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