The Life Guards provides dogs for Armed Forces units. Swedish Armed Forces Dog Instruction Centre (SAFDIC) raises and trains sniffer dogs to find weapons and explosives and guard dogs for security. Along with their handlers, they are trained for rapid response missions, both nationally and internationally.
Swedish Armed Forces Dog Instruction Centre (SAFDIC), is based outside Märsta, 50 km north of Stockholm. Our breeding station is in Sollefteå.
SAFDIC responsibilities:
- Represent the dog working service
- Procurement of dogs for the Armed Forces
- Training (INU) of dog working personnel
- Development of the dog working service
- Production of arms and explosives sniffer dogs and guard dogs
- Rules and regulations for the dog working service
- Coordinate dog working services within the Armed Forces
- Coordinate with other government authorities
Raising dogs
SAFDIC is the leading body for dog working services within the Armed Forces. SAFDIC supplies working dogs to the different units and is responsible for ensuring all dogs meet the exacting demands of the Armed Forces.
SAFDIC has both career officer and civilian personnel, all with differing dog related backgrounds.
History of dogs in the Swedish Armed Forces:
- 1911 first dogs trained for military purposes.
- 1936-1970 Army Dog Working School in Sollefteå (now under civilian management).
- 1980 Air Force founds a dog unit in Halmstad (F14) that relocates to Tullinge (F18) in 1995 and then to Märsta in 2000 where it remains today.
- 2004 SAFDIC starts a breeding station in Sollefteå to produce the puppies of the future.