Police K9 dogs are a significant part of law enforcement. They are responsible for saving lives and protecting others. A K9 needs to be alert, calm, obedient, and quick to learn. There is a lot of training that a professional dog trainer must do to prepare a dog to become a K9 officer.
Adapt to New Environments
Your dog should be able to perform their duties under stressful conditions. It would be best if you exposed your dog to the sounds of replicating gunshots, fake criminals, and the sounds of screeching cars. As your dog adjusts to these foreign noises, they should be able to perform their tasks with minimal guidance.
Choose an Area to Specialize In
There are a few different areas that a police dog can specialize in. They can focus on training in one area, or they can be trained to specialize in all three.
Tracking: Police dogs use their powerful sense of smell to track criminals, missing people, or dead bodies. Their sense of smell is almost 50 times more sensitive than a human’s. They can distinguish a certain scent even when there are other scents around.
Substance Detecting: Police dogs also use their sense of smell to detect specific substances. Some dogs are trained to recognize bombs and explosives. Others are trained to sniff out illegal drugs. After training, they should quickly be able to tell if any of these substances are near and pinpoint the location.
Enforcement: Police dogs also have the power to cause criminals to surrender instead of running or fighting. Police dogs are faster and more aggressive than most humans. The presence of a police dog can deter people from starting any conflicts.
Obedience Training
Once a dog is selected to go through training, it’s critical to have them attend obedience training to learn basic skills and socialize with others. To continue their training, they must learn to sit, stay, lay down, and perform other obedience skills. They should be able to obey these commands on and off the leash, and in any environment, without hesitation.
If you’re interested in helping animals and working with others, consider dog training as a career. Our goal is to give you the right tools to teach others successfully. At Dog Trainer College, we offer courses for Police K9 Instructing. Are you interested in taking a class? Contact us today!