In April I had the privilege of filming "The Desert Dog Police Dog Trials" in Scottsdale, Arizona. I would like to thank Tim Norton of the Phoenix PD and Kevin Sheldahl (retired N.M. Sheriff's K9 handler) for helping me get these videos. The competitions reflected real life scenarios. Police K9 handlers were working with Swat Team Members. Some of the scenarios involve "Flash Bangs" and blank rifle ammunition during apprehensions.

There were 64 police service dog teams from all over the South Western United States and Mexico who competed in this event. The Police K9 Officers in this region certify their dogs through the "National Police Dog Association" and the "Arizona Law Enforcement Canine Association." These are both excellent K9 organizations whose goal is to make sure their training standards and certification reflect the street work a K9 team will face on the job.

Unfortunately, this is not always the case with many other police K9 organizations who certify police service dog teams. In my opinion, these other organizations do a disservice to the dog handlers who put their lives on the line every day. These other organizations put handlers lives at risk because of their unrealistic weak certification programs. Handlers from all over the country should show this video to their supervisors and recommend they consider the National Police Dog Association as their certifying organization.

I do not have the names of all of the Police Officers who worked this trial, for that I apologize.