South Korea's cloned dogs

Training sniffer dogs is an expensive job, yet only 30 percent of recruits make the grade.

Until now.

All these Labrador pups are destined to become part of the South Korean customs service.

That's because they're all copies of the world's first cloned dog - a Labrador called 'Chase' who's one of South Korea's top drug-sniffing canines.

The six-month old pups even share the same name, 'Toppy', short for 'tomorrow's puppy.'

They've been in training almost since birth and show strong signs of possessing the genes necessary to combat narcotics trafficking.

Trainer Kim Nak-Seung says the clones are different from normally-bred puppies.

(SOUNDBITE) (Korean) TRAINER KIM NAK-SEUNG SAYING:

"Normal puppies tend to play a lot, but these cloned dogs are proactive and behaved. They also understand trainers' instructions easily and are doing well in the courses."

The dogs will finish their training next year.

The Customs Service hopes to roll-out a second batch of cloned puppies if the experiment proves to be a success.

Helen Long, Reuters

pup - A young dog; a puppy.
roll out

1. To get out of bed.