May 18, 2011
Should I imprint my new puppy for police work?
Full Question:
Hello, I am a police officer in Mississippi. I am not a K-9 unit, but I do hope to someday get my own. My question is I am about to get a puppy and train it for search and rescue, now what I would like to do is eventually train him for police work (narcotics, bite). Do you think I should go ahead and incorporate those aspects in now or should I work with him later. The people I am going to be training with are all police K-9 officers who have many years of experience. They all know very well how to train K-9's, but I am always interested in different opinions.Thanks,
Joey
Ed's Answer:
Most K-9 Cops are good cops, some are good dog handlers and most are poor trainers in that order. In my experience less than 20% of them are good trainers. I wish it were not the case. What they know about selecting puppies and training puppies is nil to nothing.
A badge and a dog does not make them experts. I do it too and I have been head of the training committee for the WI Police Dog Assoc.
If you want to learn how to selection test a pup for this work, get my videos Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months and Bite Training Puppies. This shows you how to run tests on a litter to pick the dog you want, if I were you I would study the shit out of this tape before you go get your pup. Walk away from the litter if they do not pass.
You can imprint narcotics on pups from a baby (it’s great for the dog), but you cannot use it on the street in drug work (no matter how good you think it is) until it’s at least 13 or 14 months old. If you do you are setting yourself up to lose in court. Read the articles I have written on this subject. It used to be done in Texas, I think they have stopped it because of the bad publicity it gave them, (which they deserved).
I would recommend The First Steps of Bite Training at about 6 months then The First Steps of Defense.
A badge and a dog does not make them experts. I do it too and I have been head of the training committee for the WI Police Dog Assoc.
If you want to learn how to selection test a pup for this work, get my videos Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months and Bite Training Puppies. This shows you how to run tests on a litter to pick the dog you want, if I were you I would study the shit out of this tape before you go get your pup. Walk away from the litter if they do not pass.
You can imprint narcotics on pups from a baby (it’s great for the dog), but you cannot use it on the street in drug work (no matter how good you think it is) until it’s at least 13 or 14 months old. If you do you are setting yourself up to lose in court. Read the articles I have written on this subject. It used to be done in Texas, I think they have stopped it because of the bad publicity it gave them, (which they deserved).
I would recommend The First Steps of Bite Training at about 6 months then The First Steps of Defense.
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