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controling your emotions the best you can- whatever you feel is directly felt by the dog "goes down the leash" so to speak (goes for any handler reguardless of what K9 is trained for)... what info exactly would you like to know? What program are you with- patrol, narc, exposives, SAR, dual purpose...?

I've got to get in the cheap seats with rballard on this one. I to have a lot of questions and no answers. I would like to learn to train and then train a couple of SAR dogs. Non Departmental. On my own. I have done extensive obedience training on my own dogs but never ventured into a specialty of any kind. Would training SAR be much removed from any other search dog, say narcotics? This is a work in progress type dream of mine. Stay Safe

Training a SAR do is a very time consuming endeavor.. if you plan on doing this on your own,, let me make some suggestions:

1. SAR is not a hobby it is a lifestyle... just like being LEO,, there is no room for half assed training

2. Decide on what type of SAR discipline you want.. Tracking/Trailing, Cadaver/HRD, Airscent/ Water...

3. Get your self trained first... the national standards are SAR Tech II or equivilent then your dog has to pass the
K-9 SAR Tech III and II to be nationaly recognized.

4. Find a team and see what it actualy takes... visit www.nasar.org look at sar dog standards.

5. The average time in training is 1 year... before certification... you can get a dog thats qualified but YOU have to get qualified to handel the Dog.

If you would like more info PM me I would be glad to answer any questions you may have about SAR Dogs or training.

There are differances between SAR Dogs and LE Dogs... the bottom line is the same.. **$# runs down the lead... poor training equals a poor handler... the dog will only be as good as its handler and training.

MY DAUGHTER HER BOYFRIEND IS A K9 COP . HE IS HAVEING A REALLY BAD TIME AT WORK BECAUSE OF HIS BOSS. SO I THOUGHT MAYBE HIS DOG MIGHT GET THOSE FEELING ALSO . HE IS TRYING SO HARD TO GET INTO ANOTHER DEPTARPENT I WISH THERE WAS ONE FOR HIM THEN MAYBE HE WOULD FEEL ALOT BETTER TOO . HE IS TRYING TO FIND A BETTER PLACE TO WORK NOW.

www.leerburg.com <---Good site/forum for K-9 products and training... I like it atleast.

Hello Kelty,

Before you start trying to put alot of work into your own dog you should bring him to an experencied handler to test your dog for the proper drives that we look for in law enforcement K-9's. I have picked out K9's for agencies before at many different vendors. Many dogs don't have all the right "stuff". Leerburg video's are a good start AFTER you complete a good K-9 acadamy usually 10-14 weeks. There tracking video's in my opinion are some of the best.

Try and link up with a good neighboring K-9 unit and do a little research. There are many grants out there to help you and your department get started. If you have any other questions or concerns let me know.

Since I've been old enough to recognize a Police Car I've always wanted to be a Cop. I joined a Police Explorer program at 14 and loved it. I've been working on going full time LEO but have to settle for a Reserve Officer for now. During my Police Explorer days I learned the awsome partnership between the K9 handler and the K9. I worked on a Air Force Base so the dogs were top notch.  Needless to say my heart is in K9 now and cant have it just yet.......  but I will wait .... any suggestions for getting to K9 ?

DFrost is right.  Learn to be a proficient cop first, then work on a specialty.

As for being a new handler, the hardest part to deal with is the frustration when the dog does not do what you trainined it for.  Or the handler makes the mistake (which is 99% of the time) and misses a dogs behavior change.  I just started as a K9 handler back in Sept. of 07.  I feel like a rookie again even with 15 years of police experience (as an FTO/SWAT officer).  A lot more things to learn than just basic police work (training, deployment issues, training, case law, training, documenting, training).  I am lucky to have a NAPWDA trainer in my Dept.

Ok I know I am going to get a lot of neg. feedback here but.....as far as I am concerned any new K-9 Handler should have to attend a Police and train a green dog. Civilian Trainers are not cops (unless they are retired Police K-9 Handlers/Trainers). However it adds a lot of creditability by attending a certified Police ran by certified Police K-9 Trainers that are from a L.E. Agency. In addition the new handler should upon graduating or while at the academy certify their K-9 with the USPC or NAPWA. A green handler that purchases a trained dog and receives 2-3 weeks of training is only shorting themselves and we are not talking about a sport here it is Police work. K-9 handlers that have attended a Police Canine Academy ran by a L.E. Agency will be way ahead and a lot safer on the streets. I will say that there is nothing wrong however with an experienced K-9 Handler (who attended a Police with their first K-9 Partner) with them purchasing a trained K-9 as their second or third Partner. Canine Academy Canine Academy Canine Academy

I know that we are always talking about the cost factor however your desire to be a canine officer should not be over shadowed by compromising your safety just to get a program started. Police K-9 work is intense and no one knows this better then a trainer that was a Police K-9 Handler. A civilian has never experience actually going into a building knowing that there is actually someone in there that wants to hurt or better yet kill you and your dog. That’s why when you get trained by a Police K-9 Trainer they are so hard and constantly ride you to increase the intensity to simulate real life police work.  I really did not want to do hits in the Atlantic ocean surf  in Feb. or conduct field searches in marshes in February but the bottom line was what if the bad guy were to go into the that marsh you and your partner  better have trained for it.

I think one of the best examples of this is in Florida were many agencies send there officers to the larger Sheriff Departments to get trained. There are many large departments out there that have canine academies and in most cases charge a small fee to allow outside agencies to attend.

I Hear ya!

BCSD is right on the money.  POLICE K9s should be trained by POLICE K9 handlers (current and/or former/retired).  Where else will you get solid instruction, not only on handling a dog on the street, but things like applicable case law and real scenarios?  Some things you just can't get from a book.  Someone else mentioned learning how to be a cop first and I totally agree with that as well.  There are many civilian trainers out there (some good, others not so much) that claim all kinds of affiliations, etc to police work.  Would you take golf lessons from someone who never played golf?  Food for thought.  Beware of short (4-6 week) schools as well.  You and your dog will only reach a high level of proficiency through repetitions in your various disciplines.  My opinion is there are 2 ways to train a police K9 team...the way that makes money (short schools) and the right way.  Shorter schools are ok for large departments that have full-time dedicated K9 units that spend a LOT of time training (on duty with an in-house trainer) when they're not running K9 jobs.  Otherwise, you need the longer school in order to graduate with a high number of quality repetitions in terms of detection searches, obedience work, building and area searches, tracks and time on the aggression/control field.  If you were going to train to run a marathon, which would you rather do...train for 4-6 weeks, or train for 10-14 weeks?  K9 is similar except that you are training for the street where sometimes, there IS no second place.  Second place means you're dead.  Once you've finished your basic class, be sure to get certified by AN OUTSIDE ENTITY such as NAPWDA.  NAPWDA's certifications are among the most difficult and are national.  In-house certifications are ok, but can be argued in court as insufficient since the team is certified by its own agency.  If you have an in-house or state certification, get the additional national cert as well...it will only make you look better if (when) your credibility gets called into question.  Lastly, DOCUMENT EVERYTHING you do.  As you know, in police work, if it's not documented, it never happened.  This is particularly true in K9.  Honest (remember no dog is perfect) and thorough documentation will help to keep the defense attorneys at bay and most will not try to question a K9 team's credibility when there is a mountain of documented training (as well as actual deployment) records.  Other than that, patience, patience, patience and lots of consistency and emphasis on control and obedience will carry you far in building a successful K9 career.  Good luck!