Dogs are very smart animals. With the right training, they can acquire various skills that can be really useful and can come in handy in unexpected times or emergency situations. You’ve probably heard a lot of stories in which dogs rescue their homeowners in house fires or protect them from would-be intruders. In police and military operations, dogs play a crucial part in helping out because they can be trained to perform a wide variety of protective tasks. For instance, police K9 dogs can be trained to help find a suspect, search for hidden objects, participate in rescue operations, detect bombs, and a whole lot more. But before any individual can work with a dog as a police dog, the dog has to undergo and pass the police test. This is to ensure that the dog is trained and can be reliable in times of need. You might be considering police dog training for your own pup to ensure he has the skills to protect your home and family, and it’s entirely possible for him to learn them. Before you sign him up for classes, however, there are a few things you need to learn.

How Does It Work?

Before your dog acquires these amazing skills, remember that K9 officers along with their dogs undergo training and lessons once a week, so that’s a commitment you need to make to ensure your pet retains the skills he learns. In this training program, they get to discover many things together, including various training simulations in which dogs learn certain skills. These trainings might feature tracking training, learning K9 tactics, and bomb detection. Training schools that provide this kind of service simulate these situations at various outdoor locations. It helps if your dog already has a good understanding of basic obedience skills, but these classes often start with the fundamentals, too.

What Dogs Can Learn

With police dog training, dogs acquire various skills. One of the most important things that your dog should learn is obedience. By undergoing a training program, your dog will become much more responsive to your commands. He will be taught a wide variety of skills that go beyond the simple commands, too. With the help of experts, handlers can easily control their dogs and establish stronger bonds. Aside from these elements, dogs can also be trained for other purposes. For instance, your dog can be commanded to attack until you tell him to cease. This is widely used in various real life settings. Police dogs are also used for various search activities. In police dog training, they are trained on how to search and track. In particular, they are trained for the detection of explosives, narcotics, and more.

Also read: Service Dog Training

Difficulties of Police Dog Training

Training a dog to learn basic skills can be a challenge if yours isn’t already used to listening to you but you want to train him to become a police dog. The skills learned are beyond those that normal dogs possess because they need to produce successful outcomes in different tasks and missions. Dogs undergoing this training need to respond to their owners immediately. This is a reason why it can be difficult to complete police dog training. You also might own a breed, such as a dachshund, that has stubborn tendencies and just won’t be happy or proficient at completing the training. There are other problems that might arise as well. For example, if the class trainer does not have enough knowledge when it comes to working with and training dogs, it can be difficult, even if the dog has already undergone training, for your dog to learn much or perform well. You need to find an experienced trainer that has years of time spent working on or with a police force training different breeds.

What a K9 Handler Must Do

Being a K9 handler is also not an easy thing. As a handler, you must be able to do certain tasks with your dog. But before your dog can work as a police dog, or at least provide proof that he’s learned all the proper skills from the class, you and your pet must pass a police test. Your dog must be able to follow the commands given by you or the tester and execute the specific tasks based on the cues given. He should also be able to alert you that he has completed a specific task. Before police dogs can be assigned in crucial posts and areas, they also need to undergo a specialized training that applies to different environments. For example, if your dog is to be assigned in a metro station, marine port, or other types of location, he needs to know certain protocols that are area-specific.

Benefits

There are various benefits that you and your pup can enjoy if you decide to both enrol in a police training program. For one, a dog that has had police training will have better communication, connections, and contact with you, even at home. Because the skills needed to execute highly sensitive and crucial tasks are difficult, having this training makes your dog smarter and ensures he can protect you in any number of precarious situations. You’ll also understand your dog and the inner workings of his mind better, and you’ll enjoy improved behaviour on his part. The reason why dogs and handlers have to be trained together is that it’s much easier for a dog to work with a person if he knows and is attached to his handler. You’ll also learn further ways to help improve your dog’s performance and behaviour around other people or at home.

Police Dogs Training Methods

In these training programs, there are different police dog training methods used. For one, experts make use of positive-reinforcement methods. This is a method in which they emphasize reward-based training. In essence, you should only reward your dog when he does something right, not punish him when he does something incorrectly. It goes beyond just training the dog for basic obedience and knowing tricks, too. With positive reinforcement, dogs can easily learn and be more attentive to what they are being asked to do without becoming fearful. Even already-strong breeds like Dobermans and Rottweilers can perform well when given certain tasks and functions with this kind of method. No matter what kind of dog you have, most trainers recommend you go for positive methods, as they produce more reliable and efficient dogs and the technique enhances a better relationship between the two of you. Now that you know a little bit more about what police dog training involves, it might be time to tour a local academy to see if your pal has a place there.