K9 Training - Becoming a K9 Cop
K9 is an abbreviation for Canine.
K9 training equips an ordinary dog to be an extraordinary canine
police officer. The term K9 was originally used in reference to war dogs
in the military. War dogs go back thousands of years, and were used by
the Egyptians, Persians, Greeks and Romans, among others. As war dogs,
they were trained for use in combat. They were used primarily as scouts,
trackers and sentries. They continue to be used even today in some
capacities in modern military environments. At least 600 Military
Working Dogs (MWD) have been utilized in recent wars in Afghanistan and
Iraq. The idea of a war dog was later carried over, and applied to
police work, and the name was changed to police dogs, which was
shortened to K9. K9 cops are
trained police officers that have a dog for a partner. They go
everywhere together.
There are a number of dog breeds used for police work. The most common
K9 dogs used today for police
work are the Belgian Malinois and the German Shepherd. The Malinois
comes from the sheepdog family, and is a medium-sized square
proportioned dog. It has a short mahogany coat with a black overlay. Its
erect ears are black along with a black muzzle. In comparison to the
German Shepherd, this dog has a square build. The temperament of a
Malinois is active, friendly, protective and hard-working. Many of these
dogs have an excessively high prey drive. If they aren’t provided enough
exercise and stimulation, they can become destructive or develop
neurotic behaviors. Being large, strong dogs, they require consistent
obedience training. The Malinois enjoy being challenged with new tasks.
Due to their high drive for rewards, they are known as being very easy
to train for obedience.
Depending on what the police dog is used for, there are a number of
other breeds used. One of the most common uses of police dogs is to
chase down a fleeing suspect and hold him for officers, or to detain
suspects from some action or threat. Other dogs that can be used for
this purpose are the Akita Inu, American Pit Bull Terrier, American
Staffordshire Terrier, Boxer, Doberman pincher, Dutch Shepherd,
Rottweiler, and Schnauzer.
Police dogs used for illegal substance detection include the Beagle,
Basset Hound, English Cocker Spaniel, English Springer Spaniel,
Foxhound, Labrador Retriever, Sulimov Dog, Schnauzer, and the Weimaraner
. These dogs often sit with their handlers in airports, sniffing
passengers, from afar, for illegal substances they may be carrying in
their luggage or carry-on items. These dogs are most commonly trained to
detect, not only drugs, but also explosives.
Tracking dogs are used for sniffing out trails of lost or missing
persons or objects. The best dogs
for this purpose are the German Shepherd, Bloodhound, Coonhound, and
Labrador Retrievers.
Dogs used to find corpses, or human remains have such sensitive noses
that they can smell a body from under running water. These dogs include
the Beagle, Bloodhound, and Labrador Retriever.
K9 dogs are highly trained dogs. But the training that takes place is a
team effort. The handler, or K9
cop, must be trained alongside the dog to make sure they are totally
compatible. This training is in addition to learning
how to become a cop. The training program is normally a very intensive one. When
K9 officers complete their training, they will be competent to function
under almost all stressful and non-stressful law enforcement conditions.
Both the dog and the handler (police officer) are watched carefully from
day one of the training program to make sure they are totally
compatible. If there is a compatibility issue, the dog may have to be
replaced. This officer and dog will be a team, working together in a
number of situations. A well trained
K9 dog will take a bullet for
their partner. Many have done this in the line of duty.
The K9 must be totally compliant to the officer’s commands. As with
fellow patrol officers, canine teams require time to reach optimum
efficiency. These dogs live with the handler, and become members of
their family. As a family member, they require much attention. A canine
must continue to receive regular training to perform efficiently. During
K9 training, the handler comes to understand why obedience is the basis
for all other training. They learn how to give the commands of Heel,
Sit, Down, Stay, Come, Stand, Jump, Retrieve, No!!, Search, Speak,
Watch, Bite, Out, Track, Search, Go Out, Good Dog, Crawl, and In the
Car; both verbally and by hand signal. The K9 has already learned all of
these words and commands in the language the officer will use. The K9
dog is completely obedient to his master’s voice. Together, they will
become proficient in performing all needed exercises. The officer learns
how to properly correct the K9 and that the canine must receive praise
and reward.
There are a number of K9 training
schools across the U.S. Some of the course work covered in these schools
include: training in detecting narcotics, explosives, or accelerants;
scent association; area search, article searches, and building searches;
handler protection; apprehension; obedience; K9 care & first aid; K9
tactics and officer safety. Some dogs are trained for search and rescue.
Many schools also offer annual refresher courses.
Duties of K9 Cops
The duties of K9 cops will
depend on the type of police dog with which the officer is paired. As
with any police officer, he is first and foremost an officer whose task
is to ensure the safety of the community. If the police officer is
paired with a dog to enforce public order, then he will act as a regular
cop and use his dog to pursue and detain suspects. If the police officer
is paired with a tracking dog, such as a bloodhound, he may end up
working missing-persons cases, using the dog's acute sense of smell to
pick up the missing person's trail. A police officer who is paired with
an illicit-substances dog, may work at an airport or at a border patrol.
If the officer is paired with a cadaver dog, the cop may end up working
as a detective, trying to solve a missing person case. These dogs are
trained to pick up the scent of decomposed tissue.
Since the K9 lives with its handler 24 x 7, the police officer must take
complete care of his/her partner. That includes proper feeding and
grooming of his K9 partner. It also includes providing a proper kennel,
or
dog house for his
or her canine partner to live in.
If you need some
dog house plans for your K9 friend, check this out.
K9
training is an ongoing
process that never ends.