The Transportation Security Administration is expecting at least 133,000 travelers during the Fourth of July travel period at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. One of the ways they keep people safe: Explosive-detection K-9s.
RDU uses K-9s that patrol the terminal, searching out explosives at random.
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Todd Voorhis has been a K-9 handler for about 17 years now. He currently works with a dog named Teeaa. He said the relationship between the dog and its handler is a unique one.
"I have to read her change of behavior while we're moving through the airport to determine whether she's actually detecting the explosive odor that we're looking for," he said.
Voorhis said training takes place 24/7, often using decoys to set up scenarios that the dogs may encounter.
"We train every day," Voorhis. "We're training even when we're at home and we're off, we still are doing some obedience training with them."
Voorhis said the K-9s are even more important when travel picks up. With more people coming through the terminal, there is more of a risk that an explosive could be brought in.
If you see a K-9 working at RDU, handlers ask you do not pet or disrupt them.