The Role of the Canine Handler Handler Qualification  Ultimately, it would be beneficial for a potential canine handler to be experienced in SWAT or to be in a position of TL (team lead), for a SWAT-style arrangement.  Why?  Those with this type of background have applicable working experience and a clear understanding of the big picture of tactics and multi-tasking under pressure.  […]

The testing process is pretty simple. Master the hunt selection and don’t get sucked into the vortex of the bite. I do not believe canine selection should be about how deep the bite is, how hard the bite is, how hard looking the canine is or how ‘beautiful’ the canine is. It’s about the hunt, […]

Newsletter – Way of the Decoy Decoy a person who entices or lures another person or thing, as into danger, a trap, or the like. It seems everyone involved becomes a trainer as soon as a canine evolution begins. Whatever your background or past experiences, if you are not on the business end, i.e. a […]

Define Conflict – a fight, battle, or struggle, especially a prolonged struggle; strife. To this day I still feel that the only reason a handler needs to use an electric collar device is for the tone application (recall).  Why? Because a canine should listen to the commands of its handler or support personnel (if applicable) […]

This two part series covers the Electric Collar Device. There are two common types of electric collar devices used by both police and military canine  handlers:  The Garmin/Tri-Tronics and the Dogtra. These two particular systems, the Garmin/Tri-Tronics 550 (g2) series and the Dogtra 3500 series, I have personally used extensively as a canine handler overseas […]

The secret to developing a well rounded Working Dog is Obedience. Obedient Definition:  Doing, or being willing to do, what you have been told to do by someone in authority Let’s take a look at areas where Working Canine obedience applies: Narcotic/Explosive Detection – the search command, scan command, detail command, let go (ball) command Bite […]

I frequently highlight the differences between the Working Dog vs Sport Dog because it is important to understand how the sport dog mindset in police service work can adversely affect team performance in the field, especially in high risk situations. The true essence of consistency in working canines is the development of what I consider […]

Terms for a Police Canine – Dual Purpose Canine – Single Purpose Canine – Police Dog. Canine Apache (Belchertown MA PD) Terms for a Military Canine – MWD/Military Working Dog – CAD/Combat Action Dog – Multi-Purpose Canine – Single Purpose Canine. Canine Astor (GRP 2 Plankowner) There are a lot of misperceptions on the differences […]

HANDLERS ARE NOT TRAINERS Definition of a Canine Handler – A person who has charge of a canine in a working capacity. Definition of a Canine Trainer – A person who fosters the development of a canine to its fullest potential. When a department/agency decides that they want to add a canine program, it is […]

GREEN DOGS vs UNTRAINED DOGS A “Green” dog is an inexperienced/novice canine identified by a vendor as having potential to be a working dog. An “Untrained” dog is not trained in a particular skill or no attempt has been made to train the dog in any particular skill. A “Working Dog/Police Canine” must be trained […]