Training Off-Leash Control and Directed Search to Police Service Dogs

The directed search is one of the more important exercises that police K9 handlers must teach their dog. It’s used in building searches and areas searches. If a service dog is to work safely off leash it must know the directed search. In today’s society K9 handlers must have complete control over their dogs at all times. The training program for the directed search is an excellent way to accomplish this goal.

In the directed search the handler is able to send his dog in a specific direction to search for either a person or evidence. Then after searching that area the handler must be able to recall the dog and re-direct him to search in a new direction. The goal for this training is to not only to be able to teach a dog to run and search in the direction the handler wants, but also to train the dog to be recalled under extreme distraction.

For a police service dog one of the highest distraction they can face is a helper standing in plain sight stimulating the dog. We will show you how to teach obedience under these circumstances in this training video.

Prerequisites

Before dogs begin directed search training there are a set of skills that they must have already learned. Dogs must know:

• How to bite and grip
• They need to be comfortable doing pursuit bites
• They should be started in bark and hold training
• They must be comfortable working close to handler in bite work
• They must understand a down and stay command
• The must be able to do a reliable recall

These are the previously learned skills that you must bring to the table if you expect your dog to start to learn how to search buildings. If your dog is not proficient in all of these skills then you are premature in expecting him to learn to do a building search.

Topics Covered

• Training the recall under extreme distraction
• Teaching the blind search on a training field
• Teaching the directed search in a building
• Drive building exercises for directed search

Acknowledgements

This video was done with the help of Kevin Sheldahl. Kevin is a full time K-9 handler for a large Sheriff’s Department in the South West. He is also a Police K-9 Judge in WPO, DPO, and PSP. Kevin offers training seminars all over the country. If you are interested in a police K-9 seminar contact Kevin at (505) 250-4576 or e-mail him at ksheld@msn.com. You can also views Kevin’s website here: K-9 Services.