BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - Harvey and Lyka aren't too much different than your average dog.
Both of them enjoy play time and both love scratches. Lyka, a five-year-old Belgium malinois, knows tricks like laying on her back on command. Harvey, a three-year-old lab-irish setter mix , is a little more low-key.
Both are also going to the Super Bowl.
The two dogs are part of the NFTA Police and were invited by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for searches and for public safety.
"Our primary responsibility there as explosives detection handlers is to support the Super Bowl in terms of explosive detection," Michael Bogulski, Lyka's handler, told reporters. "They want to make sure that everything is safe. Generally, we're going to use K-9's to do that because that's the most efficient way to do so."
Bogulski, Lyka, Harvey, and Harvey's handler, Christie Clifford, were all selected to represent the NFTA as part of a national request.
Lyka's primary responsibilities include searches at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport for cargo, suspicious packages, while Harvey handles searches within the City of Buffalo, including the metro rail and on metro buses.
"A lot of times other agencies will call us to assist with bomb threats or any suspicious item that they have (when) they don't have another dog available," Clifford said.
Bogulski said they're not sure if they're going to be stationed inside or outside of Mercedez-Benz Stadium.
"If we are in the Super Bowl we're probably going to be working as opposed to watching the game," Bogulski said. "As much as I like to watch the Patriots lose, I don't think I'll be able to watch the game itself."
With thousands of people expected in Atlanta ahead of Sunday's game, Clifford said Harvey has never been around that many people before but that he'll be good as long as he has his Kong toy.
"You have to be vigilant," she said.
"Our dogs are trained to be around people," Bogulski said. "But like with any dog you have to watch them and make sure nobody brings a really small dog in their vicinity. You just never know. They're trained to be docile but when people ask me if my dog bites, my answer is always 'all dogs bite'. Whether it's a small dog or large dog, when you have a dog, you have to be careful and use common sense."