As with most working dog training, in the beginning, finding the explosives is set up as a game, as simple as "find the ball". Dog and handler progress to more challenging situations and the reward is the handler's enthusiasm and praise. The dog is trained to indicate an explosive by calmly sitting a short distance from the location of the scent.

In Bosnia and Croatia, trainers are able to simulate real minefield conditions using defused landmines. This training environment is combined with stringent and sophisticated testing and accreditation standards to produce some of the highest quality mine detection dog teams in the world.