K-9 Training — What, When & Why?

Before I can talk about the what, when and why of training police dogs, I must make clear to you the basic training facility. In my 20 plus years of involvement in the training, handling and supervision of police K-9 units, I have been fortunate to be able to have observed some of the finest police K-9 programs in this country and in Europe. I have also seen many programs fail and flounder. Some of these failures are due in large part to the training.

SYSTEM

Departments and unit trainers who utilize only one method of training, will soon find that they are restricting themselves in the number of successful teams they deploy. Just like humans, dogs do not all respond to the same method of training. I feel to be successful training police dogs, one must employ many different methods and systems. Some independently and some over lapping each other.

The system, method or combination of methods should be determined by the specific dog being trained. If one can train themselves or receive training in ANIMAL BEHAVIOR, therein lies the secret. A study of the behavior of the specific dog and an understanding of what creates that particular behavior will determine what method or methods should be used. The strengths and weaknesses in the drives in the dog will speak volumes towards he successful completion of the training of this dog.

There are probably as many methods out there as there are trainers. The ones we hear about most often are:

1. Positive reinforcement (praise, completion and resolution of the drive)
2. Compulsion (negative corrections, verbal or through equipment)
3. Inducement (balls, kongs, food etc.)

Any one of these methods will work, depending on the dog. However, police dog trainers do not have the luxury of indefinite time to train as do the sport dog trainers. Usually we have 14 weeks to put a product on the street and have them perform as seasoned veterans. Therefore I recommend a constantly changing system, utilizing every method and system at your disposal. The application of each system to be determined by the dogs drive and characteristics.

NOW WE BEGIN

This may be a large assumption, but I have to assume that if you are starting a patrol dog class, you have a pre-screened dog and a handler that have a high probability of success to complete the course.

The first few days are spent in the classroom. The topics are Drives, Characteristics, Philosophies, First Aid, Grooming and Student Demeanor. After this we talk about the areas in which the teams will receive training:

1. Obedience or Controllability
2. Agility or Confidence course
3. Article search or evidence recovery
4. Box search or Suspect search in a building
5. Tracking and scouting
6. Bite work in prey and defense
7. Criminal apprehension and protection and control
8. Tactical deployment

In each of the above, with the exception of #8, each team will learn a DUEL FOCUS in completion of each exercise. The Duel Focus is simply, with one focus on U.S.P.C.A. certification an the other on more street oriented deployment as it pertains to a tactical employment. The answer to the next question is an emphatic "YES" your dog can do both. Our society is becoming more and more violent each day. To assume that the deployments of our dogs should stay so structured and militaristic is a bit like hiding your head in the sand and letting the world pass you by.

We also have a great need to be as tactical as possible in the day to day deployments. To the students in my classes that want only to catch bad guys in a tactical, safe manner I say "If it has no basis on the way you are going to deploy your dog... Why train it?"

To those students who say I want to catch bad guys and I want to certify U.S.P.C.A. also, I say "Let's do it." It will require more work by the student and their trainer but most assuredly is obtainable.

Now that I have talked about the basic philosophies of my training academy, there probably is not much need to go further into systems that will be used whatever method is necessary to produce the best product I can.

TIME FRAMES

Lets now talk about the WHEN and WHY we do the exercises we do. The introduction of new skills we want the dog to perform are simply new behaviors in a particular drive that we want to contour to our needs.

If we can take a specific exercise that we want the dog to perform and find a way for the dog to complete this task while in a specific drive NATURAL to the dog. We can do so in a much shorter time and with much less compulsion and confusion to the dog. In other words if we can use methods that do not INTERRUPT THE NATURAL DRIVE the dog is in AND we allow them to bring the drive to completion without un-natural commands, the dog will learn and be conditioned much quicker.

The last few sentences are of paramount importance to the first few weeks of training in the systems I utilize.

In the first stages of training, we do every phase every day. The only exception to this is that we do not use any compulsion or negative corrections. Everything we do is contoured to the NATURAL drive of the dog and he/she is conditioned to the exercise and allowed to fulfill the drive naturally.

OBEDIENCE

The early stages of obedience are very short learning sessions with many rewards. depending on the dogs drive and what motivates them; we will use or induce them with, food, balls, kongs or whatever will work to motivate them. Again, very sort learning sessions with many rewards.

As the dog becomes aware and conditioned to the exercise we want, and the behavior we want, we can lengthen the learning session, give frequent rewards and go to a more traditional method and the utilization of compulsion to clean up or sharpen the exercise.

AGILITY

Agility or confidence is done in much the same manner. In the early stages we use inducement, i.e. balls, kongs or whatever to induce the dog to surmount whatever obstacle we need him to surmount. If it required that he/she be given the ball or reward after very jump, that's what we do until the dog is conditioned to the behavior we want at that point we cut back on the inducement and reward and use compulsion to finish the training.

ARTICLE OR EVIDENCE RECOVERY

This is an area that you can have lots of fun doing and the dogs can equally enjoy the training. As you know the most simple way to train article search is through a retrieval drill. The prey drive and fetch exercise is very rewarding to the dog and can be very easily conditioned. What I use is what I have named "The baseball method." All you need to do is create a visual infield in the square to be searched.

Have the dog watch you as you entice them with the prey object they like most. At this point you move to first base or third base, depending on the direction of wind and how you want the dog to enter the scent cone. You move from base to base pretending to put the object down on each base. You put the object down at a different base each time and before you know it the dog is searching olfactorily for the object.

Continue this until the dog is conditioned to staying in the square and is searching, finding and retrieving the way you want them to.

In later stages if you want the dog to go down on the article, you simply introduce some very simple compulsion methods that you are currently using obedience.

BOX-SUSPECT SEARCH

We start the box search, much like we do the building search. We utilize the strong prey or predatory drive in the dog and begin by chasing the suspect from box to box, changing our starting points each time until we have created a search pattern. The pattern most easy to obtain is the "H" pattern as opposed to the "zig-zag" pattern.

The basis in early stages is to create high energy and powerful drive in the dog. Then allow them to search and find the suspect, bite the sleeve, fight, chew and shake and kill the object of his drive...the sleeve in this case. In my opinion this release of the sleeve DOES NOT create equipment happy dogs... IT DOES allow the dog to fulfill and bring to a natural resolution the drive, thus allowing them to learn and be conditioned in a natural method with no compulsion necessary.

This would probably be a good time to explain to you why relinquishing the sleeve does not create a sleeve happy dog if done for the right reason and in conjunction with tactical suit training and compulsion. The timing of the releases is also of equal importance.

The three most important reasons to give up the sleeve to the dog are these:

1. I it allows the dog to fulfill naturally the drive they are in and conditioned learning can take place.
2. If it is to condition a proper bite on a weaker dog or a dog that is – just learning to bite.
3. If the dog is allowed to bite deep and hard with no fear of any negative corrective measures, i.e. verbal or equipment corrections, the dog will begin to be conditioned to bite this every time.

When this has taken place and the dog is sure and hard in the bite then we can incorporate some compulsive measures to obtain the out. The third reason is a bit more difficult. However if done correctly, this method can be a precursor to a natural out. Done with very little compulsion, some trainers will tell you that this method makes it more difficult to get the out that is necessary. This can be true, depending on the dog.

As you remember, I told you that the method you should use is dependent on the DOG. If you have a hard, deep biting dog you may not need this method. However it irritates me somewhat when I hear that a method that has not been studied by the complainer is said to be incorrect. Remember Keep A Open Mind and You Will Never Stop Learning.

TRACKING/SCOUTING

Whenever possible I like to use the most natural method to direct the dogs behavior in the area of tracking. After all tracking for dogs is a predatory drive that has been around as long as dogs have. We have had domesticated dogs for a very short period of time when you look at how long they have been around. Prior to their domestication, how do you suppose they ate. That's right, they tracked, all of them. Ahh, back when drives were pure.

All dogs have some of that inherent tracking ability left. Some so little that we can't find it any more and some that still have an abundance of it. If you are lucky enough to have a dog that has big natural tracking ability, consider yourself very fortunate. With these dogs I maintain that we need to keep tracking in its most natural state. We simply need to condition the dog that at the end of this track, something very pleasing to them will happen.

That something is always positive and in the prey drive. It is the most favorite prey object or an object that we can allow them to fulfill the drive, i.e. a rolled up towel that they can shake and chew and kill. Thus completing the tracking cycle for the dog in its most natural setting.

WARNING

I never put a man at the end of a training track unless I need to see some transfer of drives in a particular dog. Putting a man at the end of your tracks not only does not allow the dog to complete the cycle, but can create a dog that no longer associates tracking as fun prey exercise and changes it to an aggressive drill, thus pulling their head up and wind scenting and no longer tracking ground scent.

The addition of tracking scent articles at first is very y important. In the early stages we use many scent articles on the track, which allows the dog the opportunity to focus on the source of the scent and conditions them to stay close to the actual track. As the conditioning is completed, we remove the majority of the articles.

Sometimes we need more inducement to condition the tracking that is inherent to dogs. The most widely used method is food inducement. This method is very effective but is somewhat slower. The end result should be the same if done properly. Hot dogs is probably the most widely used form of inducement. Cutting the meat in very small pieces and roping them at first in every step and slowly removing them as the condition is taking place.

Also a spray bottle with catsup juice or beef juice can be very effective.

BITE WORK AND CRIMINAL APPREHENSION

Bite work in police dogs is also determined by the dog and the stage theyare in when you start the training. The trend today is topurchase a dog that is already sure in the bite. This is good method to cut the time requiredto train this area, however, if you have a dog that is already on the bite, you don't often know the method used to get them to that point. This can affect later training. If you are buying dogs like this, be sure to purchase them from reputable dealers. If you are starting from scratch... start with prey agitation, progress slowly and keep the new dog in prey drive until the bite is sure, hard and on the hidden sleeve. Once the dog is sure on the bite in prey, then slowly and cautiously. Too much pressure too fast will back up your bite work training real quick.

THE OUTS

Just a quick recommendation that might help in this area. As you know this is an area of control that has to be there at some point. When utilizing traditional compulsion methods to obtain the release behavior we need to reward the dog for this unnatural conditioned response. Just a compulsion out with no reward gives the dog no reason to release the bite except the fear of what the handler will do to them if they do not comply.

What I try to do is find a learned behavior the dog can do immediately after the out, like sit or down and upon completion of this directive, the dog will get another bite. Quickly re-enforcing the fact that if they do comply with the out command, something rewarding will happen. As this conditioning method proves to be working, you simply slowly remove the reward system because you now have a clean out. It is very beneficial to re-instate the reward system in training from time to time to keep the dog sharp.

SUMMATION

In closing I would like to give you a word, tell you the meaning and make a recommendation.

The word, ANTHHROPOMORPHIZING...means simply, attributing human characteristics to animals.

We all do this to a greater or lesser extent. I submit to you now that we as dog trainers and handlers need to do much less of this and focus on ANIMAL BEHAVIOR, as it related to our furry partners. All relationships are built on understanding, I propose to you that the better you understand your dog, the better your team will perform on the street and the safer you will be.