| Subject: US POLICE CANINE ASSOC. ARTICLE PART 2/longwoods cross |
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Date Posted: 05:32:58 11/22/08 Sat
There is sometimes a problem with certain portions of training with these dogs. Having been to school overseas I was lucky enough to see some techniques that have helped solve training problems with imported dogs. A perfect example is the Schutzhund dog that has a retrieve problems. Was forced retrieve used on the dog? If not, what technique was used? If you have never seen or used these methods you may not know how to correct the problem. Your approach may be directly against the conditioning the dog received overseas. These conflicting signals may only make the problem worse.
One of the things that I must comment on is the fact that I see so many handlers that train there dogs by keeping the foreign commands. It has been shown by officers that when it hits the fan, unless that language is a second speaking language, you normally do not respond in the dogs foreign commands but in our common everyday speech pattern. We recommend that all commands be taught in your native language.
The point that I am trying to make is that there are inherent problems not matter which way a unit decides to go in the acquisition of a dog. I think that every unit has to take into account the support systems for training and their experience with the different types of dogs and how they are trained before purchasing that particular type of dog.
The dog that we are attempting to recruit for the unit must exhibit certain characteristics or traits that will contribute to the success of the training. Some of these are obvious but must be paid attention to in the overall selection process.
The dog should have a temperament that allows the approach of friends and strangers alike without an uncontrolled and obvious aggressive response. This does not mean that officers have to let everyone touch their dog, but the dog should appear under control and not act like he/she is ready to go off at any time. Although this is sometimes a control problem, if the dog acts like this or shows an indication of this type behavior, then any consideration given to accepting the dog should be carefully reconsidered.
We also look for the dog that has the appearance that we feel would not be a negative to the handlers desire to work with the dog. As evaluators we must ask ourselves the question "Would I have a problem being seen on the street with this dog?" Yet we also have to consider the fact that the criminal will not care what the dog looks like as your putting the bracelets on him.
Our dogs are also tested under gunfire and for the approach to strange objects, horses, open and opening umbrellas, etc
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We also take some of the tests from our narcotics dog pretest for the patrol dog test. If a dog is to be dual trained both tests are done. The cadaver dog test follows the guidelines of the narcotic dog test as does explosive dog test. The explosive dog test does not have to score as high in some facets as we can allow for retrieve drive to a slightly lower degree.
We have borrowed many different ideas for our test from many different sources. We have changed and added some and left others intact. It should be noted again that no test is fool proof. But if definitely gives us an impression of the dogs drives and a more likely candidate to succeed
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In doing the test we only look at the dogs sociability, appearance and retrieve for a short period. If the dog passes this short phase we make an appointment to take the dog to our training area. At this point we set aside at least a 2 hour block to do the testing. This could be longer depending on the weather.
The Narcotics Test consists of the Test of Character and Temperament. This includes the umbrellas, horses, etc. This is also a test for patrol. The Test of Retrieve Drive consists of seeing what different containers for the narcotics training that he will retrieve. This is also for patrol without all the containers.
The Test for Persistence/Possessiveness has the dog attempting to scratch or bite at a ball, or his favorite object, to retrieve it while it is concealed or hard to reach.
The Test for Hunting Drive is to see how long the dog will search to retrieve the article. This is also patrol dog test.
The Test with Water gives the dog the opportunity to drink as he goes by the water and continues to retrieve.
The Test with Food is the same as the test with water.
The Struggle between the Handler/Object is the dog working to get the object while the handler or other individuals leave the area. We put the retrieve object on the other side of a 6 foot fence and see if the dog wants the object or does he look for people as he tries to figure out the problem of getting to the ball.
Search Area Testing is the taking of the dog in on different floor surfaces, waxed, unwaxed, dark, lit, etc. We must be careful not to throw a ball for the dog at this stage if he shows any FEAR of the floor (not inexperience). This can only make matters worse.
The testing is scored on a ten point system and then divided by the number of tests used with a passing score of 7. To take a dog scoring lower could present a problem. But sometimes, as we all know, our experience may show us something that does not appear in the test score.
I hope some of this information will be helpful in the selection of your next or first dog
Written by John Skalski, Detroit, Michigan Police Department
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