Security Dog Training
People and dogs have been working together for thousands of years. The exact start of the partnership remains unclear but today its obvious that dogs are more than just trainable animals. These magnificent creatures are capable of providing companionship, guidance, search and rescue and drug tracking. Police guard dogs are some of the most highly trained dogs on the planet.
Police departments in most major cities make use of guard dogs to enforce the law. Whether the dog is sniffing for illegal goods, tracking criminals or searching locations, dogs have the ability to compensate where humans fall short. Our noses are not nearly as powerful as those of a dog and guard dogs are much more adept at handling certain situations that require an accurate sense of smell.
Police guard dog training teaches dogs to respond to a policeman’s orders. This is an asset when facing a criminal. Dogs don’t back down and can’t be reasoned with, they can also move extremely fast and are very strong which can lead to the rapid apprehension of many suspects. Some breeds of guard dogs are able to catch fleeing criminals and hold them in their jaws until the officers have a chance to arrest the suspect.
In order to go through security dog training, the dog must first master basic obedience training. In our guard dog training tips post we mention the same thing. Having control over the basics is essential before moving onto more complex and dangerous commands. Additionally, police guard dog training includes agility and endurance testing as well as further training. Police dogs must be able to deal with the cityscape which means climbing stairs and jumping over obstacles.
After the basic training, guard dogs learn to specialize in a certain area of law enforcement. This can be bomb sniffing or drug sniffing but police dogs can also be taught to track down people which can aid in finding a suspect or rescuing a victim.
In order to train the dogs to sniff out drugs the handlers associate the smell of drugs with a toy the dog enjoys playing with. A common game is tug of war; the trainer will first place the drugs in the toy and then have the dog find the toy. Once the drug-stuffed toy is discovered the dog is rewarded with a game of tug of war and eventually the dog associates the smell of illegal narcotics with a reward of play.
Police guard dog training can take a long time in order for the dog to be able to fully responsive to the handler’s orders but once the dog is well trained it can be a loyal member of the police department for life. Commonly known as the K9 unit, many dogs serve under law enforcement until their death helping to make the world a safer and better place.