Building A Successful K-9 Team

By: Travis Walthall
N.A.P.W.D.A Master Trainer

Let me just get right to the point. Administrators, a large majority of this article will be addressed to you. I’ll be blunt. If you’re easily offended or don’t like being told “You’re doing it wrong”, then stop reading now. Chances are, you’re doing it wrong and I will probably point that out to you in this article. I will tell you up front that I was never, and probably will never be, an administrator. I didn’t say that I was never a leader. Huge difference, as you know. I guess I should clarify. I did a lot of administrative work while working the street and working a dog. It was just never my full time job. So, in the interest of fairness, I will cut you some slack because I realize there are things that you, as an administrator, have to deal with that I never did. But, that’s your job. If you’re doing it correctly, street level guys should never have to worry about your responsibility, especially in the context of the topics this article will address. Let’s get to it.
Recently, I have either dealt directly with departments concerning their canine policies, or I have heard of departments having issues with their policies. Most of the issues I have dealt with, or heard about, have been with the “aggression control”, or use of force, portion of the canine policy. Many times, the problem is that the issue is being made more difficult than it needs to be. What is the landmark use of force case in the United States? Graham v. Connor. Canine policies should follow Graham v. Connor. That’s it. It isn’t rocket science. I recently spoke with a chief of a medium sized police department with a well-established, successful K-9 Team. Their policy had mirrored Graham v. Connor. He told me that they had recently changed the policy so that handlers couldn’t use their dogs to apprehend offenders simply because the offense was nothing more than fleeing. In other words, they could no longer “bite” people simply for running. My response was, “Your policy followed Graham v. Connor, correct?” He responded, “Yeah.” My response, “Well then, you couldn’t have done that in the first place.” He looked at me like I had three heads, then quickly recovered by explaining that they had just changed the wording to make it hook. One of two things had gone wrong here. Either Graham v. Connor was not correctly understood or “the powers that be” within this police department lost their heads because dogs were involved.
Honestly, I’m not entirely sure which is the case because I see both on a regular basis. If you’re a street cop, much less an administrator, and you cannot recite the “three prongs” of Graham v. Connor by heart, you need to learn them, right now! This is THE landmark case for use of force. It doesn’t matter if we are talking about deadly force or using a dog to apprehend suspects, this is the standard. By the way, deadly force and canine apprehension are NOT the same, in spite of what a policy I recently read says. Administrators, you are the people writing policies. You have to understand what your cops on the street, including canine handlers, can and cannot do. Develop a strong canine

K9 Hatto of  the Olathe, KS Police Department

apprehension policy using Graham v. Connor as your guide. If you can do that, you’re fine. If you need help, seek it out. Whatever you do, do not handcuff your canine handlers withpoorly written policies. The mind set of, “I was never a canine handler and I don’t understand it”, is tired and unacceptable. Fix it. The next point will cover a lot of topics. Shortcuts never are. If you already have a canine program and you’re looking for ways to cut corners, STOP! If you are establishing a canine program and you’re looking for ways to cut corners, STOP! This is one area where cutting corners is absolutely unacceptable! This usually has to do with trying to find ways to cut spending. The first thing administrators think of is either a cheap dog or cheap training. Neither one of those things truly exists. If you find either one, walk away and keep walking away. When it comes to dogs, two things are important BEFORE you ever see them, genetics and chemistry. The thing you need to concern yourself with is breeding. I’ve always dealt with European dogs because the Europeans have breeding down to a fine art. Many people ask me why “we” don’t use American dogs instead of spending all of that money. Fair question. The answer is usually something to do with cutting corners. American bloodlines are polluted. Why? Money and cutting corners. People want something for less, or for nothing, so we cheat. It will always come back on us. When it comes to training, two things are important, early experiences for the dog and adult learning. The vendor/trainer you select for your program may not have much to do with the early experiences of the dog, but his supplier does. The vendor/trainer you select should understand what you’re looking for in a dog and be able to supply that to you. If he can’t, find a new vendor/trainer. Your trainer will have everything to do with adult learning. If the trainer doesn’t understand what you need, find a new one. The thing you must understand is the fact that good trainers have spent

K9 Bolt of  the Joplin, MO Police Department 

years gaining knowledge and experience.Good trainers don’t come cheaply and neither do good dogs. If you’re not willing or able to spend the money necessary to start your program off correctly, don’t start it at all. You should understand that you are going to have to spend a lot of money to get your program started from the ground up. Hopefully, there are businesses and organizations within your communities that are strong law enforcement supporters that can help you offset some of the costs.
As I said earlier, I have always dealt with imported European dogs, which obviously cost more, and for good reason.Right now, the going rate for an imported male, around 12-18 months is somewhere in the neighborhood of $7,000-$8,000. If somebody quotes a price higher than that, they are either selling the dog of dogs or they are trying to take you for a ride. You could find cheaper dogs, but remember, shortcuts rarely work out. If you spend less money on a dog that isn’t up to standard and have to replace it, you just spent more than you would have had you done the right thing in the first place. Once you have the dog, it has to be trained. Right now, a six week basic course is in the range of $5,000-$6,000. That brings the total for just the dog and handler to $12,000-$14,000. Add to that the handler being in training for six weeks and it isn’t difficult to see what a commitment a K-9 program is from the beginning. There is the option of the trainer pre-training the dog, but the handler doesn’t have a chance to gain some very valuable knowledge if he/she isn’t there from the beginning of training the dog. The handler we see firsthand how the dog is trained from the beginning in most areas. The value of that cannot be measured and will help the handler problem solve issues that will arise in the future of the dog. The costs of a vehicle, a kennel for the vehicle, an interior temperature monitor for the vehicle, harnesses, muzzles, leads, an outdoor kennel for the dog to live in when it is not working, a concrete pad and roof for the outdoor kennel, water and food bowls, dog food, and veterinarian costs must also be considered, and that isn’t an exhaustive list. The cost of initial start-up for a canine program can easily exceed $30,000-$40,000. But, once the program is established and going, it pays for itself all other things being equal. Once you understand what you need from your dogs and vendor/trainer, you need to understand what you need from your handlers. First and foremost, canine handlers should be street monsters. What the heck is a street monster? He or she (I will use the term, “he”, from now on. Don’t be offended) is the person that absolutely loves to hunt bad guys. I mean that they love to actively seek out and arrest actual criminals. When a street monster finds a criminal, they also know how to deal with any resistance that criminal may offer. Once a street monster deals with that resistance and puts the bad guy in jail, they also know how to complete the necessary paperwork. Are you seeing a pattern develop? Canine handlers should be the people that are active in their current roles and need little supervision. If you find the person with those qualities, and they also love dogs, you have yourself a canine handler. But, understand something from the beginning. Good canine handlers are difficult to

K9 Hatto of the Olathe, KS Police Department

deal with. They are most likely not the guy that will simply go with the flow and do whatever you say simply because you said it. Nor will they accept mediocrity anywhere within the department without saying something about it. I’ve never met a group of people that care more about “the job” than canine handlers. Because of that, they invest themselves wholeheartedly, like no other group, into their jobs. They will take things personally, they will gripe and complain, they will “give you a piece of their mind” occasionally, and you won’t like them sometimes. See it for what it is. If it is simply a bad attitude, do what needs to be done to correct it. If it is because they care, which is more likely, appreciate it for what it is. I’ve already addressed the money factor in canine programs, but let me say it again, if you find cheap dogs or cheap training, walk away and keep walking. My last point is the fact that dogs learn in two ways, repetition and reinforcement. That reinforcement is either positive, negative, or passive. Passive may as well be positive. Repetition takes time, training time. You can’t shortcut time. The industry standard for training time is 16 hours per month, minimum. Let me repeat, minimum. Minimum equals mediocrity. Mediocrity sucks! Remember how I said earlier that good canine handlers care like nobody else? Well, good canine handlers won’t accept mediocrity. They will complain for more training time, even if they are getting the minimum standard amount. Before you, the administrator, think something like, “There’s no way they need that much time”, ask yourself how many training days you have attended so that you know how much time they need. In 17 years of handling dogs on the street, I can remember one time that anyone above the rank of patrolman showed up for a training day. It was the chief, who happened to drive by our training. To his credit, he stopped to chat. All five handlers had just laid a track for one another and we were standing around talking while the tracks aged a little bit. I knew what the chief was thinking the entire 15 minutes he was there. He proved me right the next day when he called me into his office to inform me that he was cutting our training time in half. When I asked him why, he explained that we weren’t using it efficiently. I explained to him what he thought he saw. He was a reasonable man and to his credit he kept things the way they were. Point being, if you don’t know, find out. Your canines and their handlers must have sufficient training time. If you’re not willing to give it, don’t start a canine program. If you already have one, attend training so you will know for yourself the time it takes to properly train dogs for police work. If you find out that your people aren’t getting enough time, give them what they need. On the other hand, if you see that your people are wasting time, deal with it accordingly.

One last topic. There are a great number of K-9 organizations out there that offer certifications. When looking for a group to obtain certification through, find one that is recognized within the industry and whose standards have been upheld by the courts. Stay away from “fly by night” organizations. Anyone can decide, at any point, to make-up their own organization. What are their certification standards? What does their accreditation process to become a trainer within their organization entail? Did “President” Bob just make them a trainer one day over a drink or did the trainer have to meet a standard? The adage of “short cuts aren’t” especially holds true when it comes to K-9 certifying organizations. I have learned many things over the past 17 years of handling dogs, but nothing as proven more true than one thing my Dad taught me as a young boy. He always told me that anything worth doing was worth doing right the first time. If you, the administrator and the handler, aren’t willing to do what it makes to do things right and repeat that effort every day, then don’t even get involved in the canine world. You will only end up hurting your people, your department, yourself, and the citizens you serve. Shortcuts have no place in law enforcement, especially in the K-9 world. It’s your responsibility to develop good policies and give your people the resources they need and deserve. Perfect effort. Every dog. Every time.
About The Author:

Travis Walthall & K9 Takoa

Travis Walthall is a Certified Master Trainer for North American Police Work Dog Association.
In 2016 Walthall retired from Joplin, Missouri Police Department after 23 years of honorable service to his community and it's citizens.
Walthall has worked and studied under some of the best names in K-9 training and behavior. Currently he takes part in teaching decoy training camps, NAPWDA, POST Certified and K-9 problem solving seminars across the nation.
If you need help writing a K-9 policy for your department that pertains to this article you may contact Patriot K-9 Training at patriotk9training@gmail.com

K-9 Drive, Fact or Fiction?

I would be remiss if I didn’t start this article by giving credit where credit is due.  Everything I talk about in this article, I learned from Dr. Stephen A. Mackenzie, either through discussion with him or having read about it in his book Decoys and Aggression 2nd edition, which is available through Amazon.  I highly recommend reading this book. Dr. Mackenzie is a professor of animal science and a North American Police Work Dog Association, Master Trainer.  I believe that anyone with his credentials is worthy of my attention.
It didn’t take me long to realize that this is a very controversial topic.  Any time somebody offers a differing opinion, other than what has been accepted for decades, there is bound to be some uproar over it.
Each time I have attempted to discuss this topic with handlers or trainers, they look at me like I have three heads and quickly change the topic.  I had the same reaction when I first began discussing this with Doc, but I also had an open mind and realized that I was speaking with not only a veteran, well respected dog trainer, but also someone that holds a PhD in animal behavior.  With that in mind, I must warn you that I will attempt to explain this topic in layman terms and the way which I understand it.  I can, in no way, explain it in the depth and clarity that Dr. Mackenzie can.
The definition of “drive” within a dog is “a dog’s natural reaction to a stimulus”.  That’s a pretty good definition of the word.  So, let’s apply that definition to a human being’s reaction to a stimulus. Let’s say that I walk up to you, the reader, and tell you something like, “I’m going to punch you in the face.” How do you react to that?  This is a fight or flight scenario.  You have a limited number of choices of how to react to that statement.  You can run (flight), punch me (fight), or a third option is for you to try to talk me out of fighting.  Any of the three could be defined as your “drive” in that instance.  The term “drive” is an attempt to define an observable behavior. But, what causes that behavior?  Is there something going on within you, the reader, which influences your reaction to my statement?
Now, let’s apply that same scenario to a dog.  If I present a physical challenge to a dog, like a decoy would, the dog also has a limited number of choices as to how to react to my challenge. The dog

basically has the same choices that you, the reader, has. The dog can either choose to fight me, run away, or bite me out of fear or defense, which is completely different than what we have come to know as “fight drive.” Although dogs can’t talk, the dog in this case could also tell me he doesn’t want to fight by using certain body language, which is also covered in Doc’s book. Those are the possible observable behaviors in this scenario.  But, what is causing those behaviors?

We, as humans, readily accept, for the most part, the explanations of a psychiatrist and other mental health professionals, when they give very technical explanations as to why humans behave the way they do given certain circumstances.  They will talk about things like genetics, chemistry, early childhood experiences, and how/what that human learned in life.  We listen and say, “Ah, that makes perfect sense." If a psychiatrist were to explain a human behavior, no matter what that behavior may be, by simply saying something like, “Bob was just driven to punch Larry” we would ask, “What does that mean? What “drove” Bob to punch Larry?”. We would want to know what was going on in Bob’s mind.

What was Bob thinking? What was going on inside of Bob chemically?  What early experiences did Bob have in life that may have caused him to think hitting Larry was acceptable? What adult experiences did Bob have that may have taught him such behavior was acceptable? We wouldn’t accept the over simplified explanation  that Bob was just “driven” to punch Larry.  Why do we accept it for dog behavior?

Well, guess what?  A dog is not unlike a human when it comes to reacting to stimulus.  If I present myself as a physical challenge to a dog and he chooses to fight me, most handlers and trainers would say that is “fight drive.”  In the accepted dog training world, they would be correct. But, what would they say if we asked them to explain what causes that “fight drive”? Is there some mysterious force pushing the dog into fighting me? Or is there a more scientific explanation for what is happening within the dog’s mind and body when presented with a physical challenge?  Do dogs possess “drives” or do they present observable behaviors? What causes “drives”? Is it a mysterious force pushing the dog into something? Or is it a much more explainable behavior?

In the example given throughout this article, I am presenting myself as a physical challenge to a dog, which is an example of aggression. 

“Aggression, like many other behaviors, is affected by four major factors: genetics, chemistry, early experience, and adult learning.” (Mackenzie, 47).  For handlers and trainers to explain a behavior by simply calling it a “drive” is inadequate. If you’re still reading, I applaud you for having an open mind.  You have come to the same understanding that I have, which is that I don’t know everything there is to know about dogs and their training and I never will.  I have accepted the fact that there are much smarter people out there than me and they know things that I don’t.  When I come across such a person, I want to know what they know.  Again, when somebody with more knowledge and experience than I have, that is willing to share with me, begins speaking, I will choose to listen.  This is the point when I will reiterate that I fall well short of an adequate explanation of this topic. 

I highly recommend that you read Decoys and Aggression 2nd edition. (No, I am not getting a cut of sales).

So, let’s pretend, at least for a moment, that there is much more to a dog’s reaction to stimulus than just it’s “drive”.  A dog’s behavior or reaction is based upon four things.  The first is genetics. We, as handlers and trainers, have really nothing to do with the genetics of our dogs other than the selection process.  That really isn’t anything to do with genetics itself.  We are simply “testing” dogs in an attempt to find one with the proper genetics to be a working dog. So, the best thing we can do is to find a breeder/vendor that understands what we are looking for and that we can trust to provide us with that. We must also develop a solid testing process that will eliminate genetically weak dogs from the possibility of them becoming a part of our training group/LE agencies.  We simply test dogs and look for the dogs that displayed the strongest behaviors we are looking for.

The second thing that dictates a dog’s behavior is chemistry.  Again, read the book because I certainly am not a chemist and will do a poor job explaining this.  However, I do have a very rudimentary grasp on the concept, which I gained through reading the book and speaking with Doc.  So, here goes my attempt at explanation. Like humans, dogs experience a dopamine dump when undergoing something that is pleasurable.  They will repeat whatever behavior they think led to that pleasurable experience.  Adult learning also plays a role in this component of aggression, which is what we are talking about in this article, for the most part. 

An example is a working dog that must be neutered. If the dog has been rewarded in the past for showing aggressive behavior, neutering him will not make that aggression disappear. 

He has experienced pleasurable chemical reactions, has been rewarded for the behavior, and will repeat that behavior in the future even after having been neutered.  Again, we have basically nothing to do with the chemical reactions within a dog. 

Early experience is the next thing that affects a dog’s behavior.  Have you ever had somebody in the public come up to you and say something like, “I have a German Shepherd at home, but it would never bite anyone. Why is that?” Well, that particular animal may not have the genetics necessary to peak it’s curiosity enough so that it will try new things, in this case, biting a human. Another case maybe that the dog was never taught that it was OK to bite a human. As a matter of fact, early in life, they were probably punished for doing so.  So much of what we do is simply operant conditioning.  We reward a desirable behavior with a pleasurable experience for the dog and we punish bad behavior with a negative experience for the dog.  Early in a puppy’s life, from the age of about four weeks to twelve weeks, is known as the socialization period.  It is during this important period that we, as trainers, seek to imprint a puppy with the behaviors we desire in them as adult dogs. We expose them to new experiences that they will deal with as adults.  We teach them that it is acceptable to bite humans under certain conditions. We expose them to new environments. We socialize them with other people.

We should have the younger dogs watch older, more experienced dogs work, especially in bite work.  We do everything we can to expose the dog to new things. We mold and teach them what we want them to learn. We reward good behavior and we correct unwanted behaviors.  There are also all kinds of things chemically going on within the dog. But again, I’m no chemist or animal behaviorist, so read the book.

The last component that affects behavior is adult learning.  I will quote directly from Mackenzie here (52-53). “…when genetics encourage the dog to exhibit a certain behavior and that behavior feels normal due to proper imprinting and socialization, the last factor to contribute is the chemical change, if any, that occurs in the brain.

When the behavior results in the neurotransmitter dopamine being released into the part of the brain known as the mesolimbic reward pathway, it creates such a pleasant feeling that the dog feels rewarded and becomes motivated to repeat whatever behavior he thinks leads to that feeling.  If, on the other hand, the situation results in a release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine into the part of the brain known as the “punishment circuit,” such an unpleasant feeling arises that the dog feels punished and will often try to avoid whatever he thinks led to that sensation. This will often stimulate what is known as the behavior inhibition system, which decreases the occurrence of behaviors that are undesirable in certain situations. This system enables the dog to conform productively to things such as the rules of the pack. …”If you do not start with a dog that has the correct genotype to show aggressive behaviors, you are at a severe disadvantage and should search for a dog with a better genotype. “

So, as you can see, we are a huge influence in the development of our dog’s behaviors.  We start with an adequate testing and selecting process wherein we observe candidates in a variety of settings and conditions.  It is up to us to have the knowledge necessary to interpret the behaviors of the dog in those given environments and conditions.  We then select the dogs that are displaying proper behaviors which were formed through good genetics and chemical make-up for the type of work we are selecting them for. Those solid genetics and chemical make-ups are brought out, first in early experience, which we may not have had anything to do with, and adult learning, which we will have everything to do with. The fact that we don’t have anything to do with the genetics and chemical make-up of the dog, is why it is important to select a breeder with a good reputation for producing the types of dogs that are fit for our type of work. 

Again, we may not have 

that socialization period between four and twelve weeks of age, which is why it is important to develop a solid relationship with good vendors and trainers that have a reputation of understanding the importance of early experience and that know how to properly develop a dog for our type of work. Again, we will have everything to do with adult learning. We must understand that everything we do with our dogs is an act in training.  We have to understand that desirable behaviors must be properly rewarded and that undesirable behaviors must be fairly punished (a topic for a future discussion, perhaps). If the dog has the proper genetics, chemistry, and early experience, we will be off to a good start for a successful working career.

There is much more to a dog’s reaction to stimulus than just it’s “drive”.  It is not simply a matter of verbiage. It is a matter of understanding that behavior, no matter what that behavior may be, is not made up of some mysterious force that is making the dog behave a certain way.  It is a matter of understanding that behavior goes much deeper that just “drive.” The behaviors we are able to observe are made up of many different factors that come together in something we can see and explain.  Don’t accept an oversimplified explanation.  You owe it to the dog, yourself, and your program to delve deeper into the issue and understand what you are seeing.  Every day is a good day to learn and a good day to train!  God bless!

Top Mistakes K9 Handlers Make

When considering the mistakes we as handlers/trainers make, I immediately thought of handling/training skills, which are obviously important to our success in the field.  I will address some of the mistakes that I make myself and that I see other handlers make.  However, there are mistakes made off the training field and streets that adversely affect our training and street skills.  These mistakes must be addressed first if we are to succeed in training and real world applications.

Officer Walthall & Takoa

The first mistake is something that happens in every police department/agency I have ever spoken to about their K-9 program.  Handlers make a mistake when they believe that their command staff and peers think of them as the elite unit they truly are.  In other words, you aren’t appreciated for what you bring to the table, nor will you ever be. That is a fact that won’t ever change.  Learn to function effectively within that world.  I have never seen a K-9 program that was successful in which the handlers, trainers, K-9 supervisors didn’t have to fight tooth and nail for everything they had.  Those that are not willing to do that, will not be successful.  They may continue to exist, but they will never see true success.  That is the mistake/problem.  How do we solve it?

The answer to that question somewhat depends on your personality type.  I have dealt with this problem since I started handling my first dog 17 years ago. My personality is kind of, “Here it is, deal with it.”  I basically told them the way things needed to be if they wanted to succeed. They may not have liked that approach, but I backed up what I said with facts. Whether you choose to be forceful or more polite doesn’t matter.  What matters is you do your research before making your approach to staff about your needs.  Educate yourself. Then educate them.  Understand that when you lay things out there, you must be willing to live up to that standard.  The work falls upon you.  I will address this topic throughout the rest of this article.

In my experience, and that of handlers I have spoken with, the top things K-9 handlers have to fight for is training time.  Again, the key is to educate yourself and then educate those that dictate the time you get to train.  The first thing you must understand is that the overwhelming majority of staff members have never been K-9 handlers.  Their thought process is something like, “SWAT only trains once a month.” They believe SWAT is an elite unit within the department and they may be. What they are failing to understand is the fact that K-9 behavior is dictated by four things; genetics, chemistry, early experience, and adult learning (Mackenzie 2015) (not these mysterious things we call “drives”, but that is a whole other topic).  Once we have a somewhat mature dog that we can start training, we really can’t do much about the first three.  Our selection process, if done correctly, will have taken care of those things. But, we can have a huge impact on the last thing, adult learning.  That means training.  Dogs learn by repetition and reinforcement, whether positive or negative.  All of that means we must have the time to repeat exercises over and over again, just like SWAT. But things are different with people than they are with dogs, the learning process is much different, as you know. The problem is “they” don’t know that or understand it.  It is up to you to educate “them” on the subject.  Obviously, SWAT members can be shown a new exercise or tactic once or twice and they “get” the general concept.  Dogs don’t learn that way.  They must be shown something again and again and again. The best example is aggression.  You all understand that I can’t just let my young dog watch a veteran dog release on command once or twice then expect him to do the same.  Building a good, dependable “out” is a long, sometimes difficult, process.  You must educate your staff on such things.  My best advice on training time, and many other K-9 topics, is to become a member of Terry Fleck’s website.  Terry is considered one of the foremost legal experts on K-9 matters.  I don’t work for Terry or get any “kickbacks” from him, but I am a member of his informational website and I have found it to be very helpful for many situations.  More information on that can be found at k9fleck.org.

Remember though, I said earlier that once you lay out the standard for training time, which is a minimum of 16 hours per month industry wide, you have to live up to that standard.  It is all too common to see K-9 handlers and training groups that become lazy and don’t use their training time for what it is intended, training.  We have a tendency to unconsciously abuse our training time. We take 1 ½ hours for lunch, eating at sit down restaurants and shooting the breeze long after the meal is over. We take entirely too long between exercises.  We tend to cut-out early because our patrol teams aren’t missing us anyway.  All of these things are pitfalls that must be avoided at all costs.  Whether you think so or not, word will eventually get back to staff that K-9 training time isn’t being used for training time.  Quickly training time will be cut and you may find some lieutenant that doesn’t know anything about dogs dictating when you can and can’t train.  Not a good place to be, so don’t allow yourself to be put there.  Train, train, train.  All that other stuff can wait for another time.  Besides, what is more fun than dog training?

Our next topic also involves training.  Are you seeing a trend yet?  Once we get staff to agree to a proper amount of training time, we start training more and everything is great.  But soon, we fall prey to our habits and our way of training.  We never take the time to reach out to other agencies and groups that also have K-9s and training going on.  That severely limits our knowledge base.  I have spent 17 years immersed in “dog”.  About 10 years ago I began the greatest professional journey I have ever been on.  I began what was basically a 7 year apprenticeship to become a certified trainer then master trainer through the North American Police Work Dog Association (NAPWDA).  It was shortly into that process that I realized just how much I had learned in the past 10 years and just how much I still had to learn.  After making MT, I realize that the learning should never and will never stop.  If you’re only training within a set group of handlers/trainers week in and week out, you are cheating yourself, your dog, your department, the citizens you serve, and your fellow officers. If you are only hearing from one trainer, you’re not learning everything you should be learning.  No matter how good your trainer is, no one person can possibly know everything about K-9 training.  That isn’t a jab to them.  It’s just a fact. Reach out to other handlers, trainers, and groups.  I used to believe that this problem had everything to do with egos.  I have come to realize that it does, but for different reasons that I first thought.  I used to believe that handlers and trainers looked up others as inferior and they didn’t want to take the time to train with people that didn’t meet their standards, which is nonsense.  If you’re not making others better then you’re wasting your time and you don’t understand why we are in this business to begin with.  But, that’s not really the issue, in most cases.  The real reason “we” don’t want to reach out is because we don’t want others to see the issues we have.  Get over it!  Everyone that handles a dog has issues.  No team is perfect.  You won’t get any better by only training within a set group.

I’ll move off my soapbox now and get into some mechanical things I see handlers and trainers doing that could be improved.  The first two things kind of go hand-in-hand.  Really they open up an entire plethora of problem areas.  Lead control and presentation are something I see as a weakness in a good number of handlers.  Lead control is much more difficult than the average person realizes.  We watch veteran handlers move with their dogs, whether doing a narcotic/explosive search, tracking, or obedience, and it seems like it is an effortless endeavor, if they have spent the necessary time training.  The problem is many handlers don’t.  It seems to me that handlers, for whatever reason, work on lead in basic handler’s school until they start to learn the skill and their dogs begin to “get” their job.  Then handlers cut the dogs off lead and rarely train or deploy on lead again, only doing it when safety is a concern.  This is probably because their trainers have told them again and again to cut the dog off lead and “get out of its way.”  I get that concept and agree with it, to an extent.  The problem arises when handlers must leash their dogs and they haven’t trained for it since the beginning of handler’s school.  At that point, they look like a monkey humping a football.  We all have experienced times when our leads get tangled in the dog’s legs, around their heads, and in the brush we’re tracking through.  Many times, even the most experience handler can’t help getting tangled up, but training on lead sure does improve your chances of not distracting our dogs by stopping to untangle them.

The next issue stems from not training on lead.  We finish basic handler’s school.  Our dogs have a good grasp on what we expect from them during a search, so we cut them off lead and let them do their thing.  The problem with that is that many handlers step away and expect their dogs to complete the search on their own.  Working dogs have to have independence.  We don’t want them to depend on us for everything.  However, we can take that too far and expect them to do all the work. One of my mentor’s, NAPWDA MT Bill Faus, loves to proclaim, “You’re a team.  Your job is to present.  Your dog’s job is to sniff and alert.  You get him in the area.  He tells you where it is.”  Bill is 100% correct!  As much as I love training dogs, not everything is training.  We train for real world deployments. We can’t control everything in the real world like we can in training, which is a somewhat “sterile” environment. Most of the time, in training, we know where the training aid is, whether it’s narcotics, cadaver, explosive, etc.  We obviously don’t know that in the real world.  We can’t control our environments, air currents, amount of aids, or other outside stimulus.  In the real world, our dogs may be searching great, but they aren’t getting into odor.  Let them free search for a few moments then step in and uphold your end of the arrangement.  I know

Officer Walthall & Ziva

what many of you tracking/trailing handlers are thinking.  You’re thinking something like, “I don’t have to present to my dog. It searches on its own.”  Well, that’s true, to a certain extent.  Once you have presented the scent article to your dog, it’s up to them to find the trail/track leading away from that article.  But, your end of the partnership still remains.  You cannot just hold on and follow along.  Your job is to watch and read your dog. When your dog is no longer displaying tracking/trailing behaviors, it is up to you to read that and act upon it by taking the dog back to the last place it was showing “in odor” behavior and present that area to it again.  So, your role in this partnership remains extremely important. 

This brings us to our next topic, which is related to lead control and presentation.  We’re back at handler’s school and everything is going great.  Our trainer is doing a great job teaching lead control, presentation, and rewarding.  We leave handler’s school and hit the streets.  We start training in our group (hopefully not alone), the world is ours. Then our enemy, apathy, starts to creep into our training.  Pretty soon, we stop doing anything on lead, ever. Then we stop presenting areas for our dogs to search, next, when our dog does find something and alerts, we walk-up to them and hand them their reward, pat them, say “good boy” in the most pathetic tone possible and then move on to the next training search.  After a while, we notice that our dog’s scratch or sit and stare has diminished to a non-existent state.  Even worse, the dog stops wanting to search or work at all.  We, being the intelligent humans we are, blame the dog and tell everyone he has gotten lazy and doesn’t want to work anymore.  We offer every reason and excuse we can think of for our dog’s poor performance, except the truth.  The truth is we, the handler, are the problem.  It isn’t our dogs that have gotten lazy and don’t want to work anymore.  It’s us!  We stop training lead control, we start cutting the dog off lead all of the time, we stop presenting, we stop interacting and partnering with our dogs, we stop doing primary rewards, if we ever did.  Basically, we crapped out on our dogs. But, we don’t want to admit that to ourselves or anyone else.

One of the things we are looking for when selecting a dog is a strong hunting behavior. We want dogs that will hunt until they find their prey or drop from exhaustion trying to find it, only to later train the dog that their prey really isn’t hiding in the woods, the school locker, the suspect’s car, or the luggage on the bus.  It’s really in our pocket, the same pocket day in and day out.  Once the dog gets in odor, all we expect is for him to give some indication, and we walk up to him, take the prey out of our pocket, and hand it to him.  What I’m saying is, train the dog naturally.  When a wolf is out hunting for food for his pack, he watches the rabbit run into a thicket and he starts digging through the brush to get to the rabbit.  The pack leader doesn’t show up and hand him another rabbit.  That isn’t the way it works.  The wolf digs through the brush until the rabbit has no choice but to pop out and attempt escape or he sits and stares at the thicket waiting for the rabbit to pop out again.  When he reaches the rabbit or it pops out and runs, the wolf attacks and kills the rabbit.  Our dog training should be no different.  Put the reward with the source.  Proof the dog from the reward by hiding rewards without source.  If the dog indicates on the reward without odor, give a verbal correction and move on.  When the dog alerts on the reward with odor, make it a game of sit and stare (focus) on the source.  When the dog’s focus is on the source and is intense, whether sitting and staring or scratching, remove the barrier and pop the reward from source just like that rabbit in the thicket.  I promise that you will see your dog’s hunt and focus intensify like never before.

I see handlers try all kinds of things to avoid allowing their dogs see them giving the dog their reward.  They contort their bodies, move all over the room, and have a second person throw the reward.  Dogs aren’t stupid.  It didn’t take them along to figure out that you were taking their reward from your pocket and that you were the one clumsily throwing it, hoping they wouldn’t see you.  Dogs have a much wider peripheral range than humans.  They see you.  So, we give the toy to another person to throw.  It isn’t long before the dog sits and stares at the second person. So, we give it to a third person and so on.  Before long we have to have five people at our training sessions and the dog is staring at every one of them when it gets into odor.  Cut all of that stuff out and start training with primary rewards.  You don’t have to do it all of the time, but it should be the rule and not the exception.

Voice tone is extremely important.  Most of the handlers I’m around are cops, male cops.  That means they’re tough.  The only emotion they ever express is the joy when telling a story about thumping some mope that needed it.  Their eyes light up and their veins pop out when relating one of these stories.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’m a male cop.  I have my own stories and I love telling them.  But, I’m not afraid to get excited around my dog either.  When my dog accomplishes a task we have spent years training for, I don’t say, “good boy” like a grumpy, old, tough cop.  I yell, “GOOD BOY!” in the most little girl like voice I can muster.  Then I dance around like I just hit the Powerball. My dog just lived up to his end of the partnership.  He just tracked and apprehended the burglar.  He just found the turd that broke into a house and ran.  He just found the pound of weed, or the ¼ gram baggy.  I don’t care what it was.  I asked him to do something we have spent countless hours training on and he nailed it.  I’m not going to say, “good boy” in a gruff tone and move on.  I may as well punch him in the face.  Get happy! Make a fool out of yourself.  Look like an idiot.  Who cares?  If you’re as tough as you want everyone to think you are, you won’t care what they think of your behavior anyway.  I have heard some trainers say that pack leaders in the wild wouldn’t act that way. They say it is childish and weak of a pack leader to display such behavior.  All I know is my dog loves it.  He gets excited.  When I do it, he plays along and is ready to repeat the behavior he thinks led to this fun game.  So, I’ll stick to it.

The last topic I’ll talk about is just a few general things we do in training.  A lot of the times, training is just plain and generic.  We have stuff going on in life.  We are busy.  We get to training and we might be exhausted. We might have any number of issues we are dealing with outside of dog training.  Don’t get me started on interdepartmental politics within police work.  That’s another topic altogether.  Anyway, for whatever reason, sometimes we just don’t feel like doing much.  We have to avoid that feeling.  We are training for real world deployments.  That means we must actually train for real world deployments.  We can’t just train for certification and expect to succeed on the street.  NAPWDA, and any other reputable certifying body, will readily admit that their certification standards are minimum standards.  The hope is that K-9 teams will meet minimum standard as a start, then they will only get better from there.  So, we have to do more scenario training.  It really isn’t difficult.  It takes more effort than simply putting out a few aids, running a short track, eating a two hour lunch, doing O.B. and going home.  But, that isn’t real world training. 

One of my constant problems as the trainer for my group is that not every dog and handler are at the same level.  That’s an issue for every training group. I’m guilty of thinking that I need to bring this dog up or that handler up before we can all train with scenarios.  That’s really just me being lazy and making excuses.  The truth is, scenarios can be adjusted for the skill level of each dog and handler.  There really are no good excuses for not taking our training to the next level, no matter what level you’re currently at, unless you’re one of those that can’t get any better.  I’ve met a few of those guys.  I’m not worthy. 

Train in scenario mode.  Throw whatever you can think of at your training group and let them do the same to you, within reason.  With that comes getting away from sleeves all of the time.  All we’re doing is training our dogs to only engage arms.  We have all seen or heard about the dog that will run along beside a real suspect and not bite him if he raises his arms high.  That isn’t the dogs fault.  He has been praised for that over and over again if you’re only using sleeves.  It’s your fault.  Sleeves are Ok if that’s all you have or you’re working a young, inexperienced dog, or working a problem that requires it.  Otherwise, man-up and put on a suit.  Teach the dog that it is ok to bite anywhere on the body.  If you don’t have a good decoy, find one, or become one yourself and teach others.  With that in mind, if you think a good decoy is that guy who is tough and wants to prove it by “working” dogs, you couldn’t be more wrong.  That type of “decoy” needs to find some other way to prove what a bad dude he is.  Decoying is about helping the dog become better and stronger, not proving how tough you are.  If you are looking for a good source on decoying, I suggest the book I referenced earlier in this article, “K9 Decoys and Aggression” by Stephen A. Mackenzie. 

It all comes down to us. WE are responsible for our training. WE are responsible for our mistakes.  WE are responsible for our improvement.  “If it is to be, it’s up to me.”  You can be as good as you want to be. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Any handler/trainer worth anything will tell you that we all have issues to work on and they will help you work on yours.  TRAIN FOR LIFE! Yours may depend on it…

(This article was written Exclusively for The K9 Chronicle by N.A.P.W.D.A Master Trainer, Travis Walthall.)

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