I totally agree with testing for the absence of odor. The hardest certification that I passed was running 4 rooms 1-3 hides. The first three were blank. Nailed the last one took the rest of the time re searching the other 3 rooms. I so glad my dog is smarter than me. We called the right one and passed . A lesson in not overthinking and training to search blanks.
A control test would take the legal defense from unlawful detection . "" Cause the dogs nose is so good it could have been in vehicle just not detectable now"" "
We do a variety of scenarios thru our certification agency that I feel is pretty close to the real thing. It usually takes us between 2 and 3 days to complete the different environments. Shoreline, buildings, vehicles, buried, area, rubble and a blank. Also we usually have a distraction odor at one of the areas. However, I can certainly relate as dogs, like humans, have an off day or a glorious day but I feel our weekly trainings really do accommodate the real life environment in most cases. We ARE guilty of not always doing blank areas, but we have tried to incorporate that more and more into our training. Would you say our log book is worth every bit as much as our certifications, if we were to end up in court?
Your records are THE most important thing as established in US Supreme Court case FL v. Harris… so keep doing a good job with records keeping and documentation even all the errors that occur… it’s important to disclose this info and the corrective action taken.
I totally agree with testing for the absence of odor. The hardest certification that I passed was running 4 rooms 1-3 hides. The first three were blank. Nailed the last one took the rest of the time re searching the other 3 rooms. I so glad my dog is smarter than me. We called the right one and passed . A lesson in not overthinking and training to search blanks.
I agree it needs to match the environment the K9 and handler team are going to work in.
Well said Cameron.
What is the standard certification need to enter into Detection Dog Handling? Also, what is the entry level salary for this job profile?
A control test would take the legal defense from unlawful detection . "" Cause the dogs nose is so good it could have been in vehicle just not detectable now"" "
We do a variety of scenarios thru our certification agency that I feel is pretty close to the real thing. It usually takes us between 2 and 3 days to complete the different environments. Shoreline, buildings, vehicles, buried, area, rubble and a blank. Also we usually have a distraction odor at one of the areas. However, I can certainly relate as dogs, like humans, have an off day or a glorious day but I feel our weekly trainings really do accommodate the real life environment in most cases. We ARE guilty of not always doing blank areas, but we have tried to incorporate that more and more into our training. Would you say our log book is worth every bit as much as our certifications, if we were to end up in court?
Your records are THE most important thing as established in US Supreme Court case FL v. Harris… so keep doing a good job with records keeping and documentation even all the errors that occur… it’s important to disclose this info and the corrective action taken.
It's a k9s job to please his handler period .
Are you guys coming to AZ any time soon?
We went out a few times this year to Arizona, but we don’t have anything booked for the rest of the year.