Working Dogs Q&As

Mr. Frawley, We have a problem with one of our new import dogs that we can't seem to figure out. I am a handler/instructor with the city of Melbourne, Florida K9 unit and am in the process of trying to get a new German Shepherd ready to work the road. The dog is about 20 months old and has been in-country for about 4-6 months. He has lots of promise with nice prey drive and defense, some prior tracking experience and is very civil. The only snag we have come across in the K9...

Hi Ed, I am a K-9 handler in Georgia and I have a two year old Dutch Shepherd that is a dual purpose dog. He does great in protection work and he does well in muzzle fighting. During the work he is pretty intense but when the training is over he becomes very passive and it seems like he becomes a pet. I wanted to know a way to get him to be a little more aggressive. I would like to get him to bark at anyone who approaches the vehicle right now he will bark when I am away but if someone co...

I did a training session yesterday, I walked my service dog along and came upon the query who stepped out unexpected. My service dog was barking, then the query who was wearing an exposed sleeve walked towards the dog using a whip as in your video tapes. When the dog launched initially, he bite on the sleeve and was given the sleeve. I kept the dog on a 6 foot leash, he "carried the sleeve" as in your tapes, I "outed" him, we stepped back out of reach of the sleeve, then the query stepped...

I was wondering if you could tell me where I could get some info on the required training hours a narcotics dog should have and a patrol dog? Reason being our new chief thinks one day a week is too much for four dual purpose dogs and wants to cut us down to twice a month. We do use our dogs a lot considering we work in the projects and border one of the highest crime rate cities around. Most of the dogs are young.

I have a question regarding a police dog. I would like your opinion on whether a good police dog should be bought and trained from a good quality pup? Or will the dog work out as well if it is bought fully trained? I know that if someone is to buy a dog and start its training themselves they are more likely to make training mistakes than a professional trainer will. I guess my biggest question is if the dog will be more "loyal" if it is bought as a pup?

I recently attended another agency's training session, the helper was beating the dog off the sleeve with a stick when it was dirty. I don't think the helper should clean up the dog in protection work. Can you give me your opinion on this?

Can you explain the main role of the helper or agitator in the protection phase of police service work?

Dear Ed, This week I will receive my police service dog. He is a 2 year old import, he is not a fire pisser nor is he a doormat. A nice balance defines the personality of this dog. My question is, how do I best aqua in him to his new home. Which includes a 11 month old puppy and a house cat. I want the dog to have as little situational stress as possible so that we can get on the path to bonding as a team. Any insights or ideas would be helpful. Mark

I would like to know if you could give me advice on what book or video that you may have to help me with my 4 month old German/Czech Shepherd. He will be trained for Patrol and some narcotics and until he is of age for this advanced training, I would like to learn more about the training and advance training of a patrol dog. Thank you for you assistance.

Can a dual purpose police service dog stay in the house at night, live as a house dog, play with the family and then go to work and function efficiently?

Hi, my name is Tracy. I am a new police K-9 handler. I have a great german shepherd, who is doing an outstanding job in narcotics, tracking and bite work. I have run into a small problem and I really need some help. The only problem I have is that my K-9 will not out the reward (rolled up towel) after a positive alert for narcotics. It has become a real problem. I really need some direction to get him to give up the towel upon command. I don't understand why he will not out when wor...

Mr. Frawley, How are you doing sir? I am currently deployed to Baghdad, Iraq (VBC). I have a two and a half year old dutch shephard named Barry. We picked him up straight out of Lackland AFB in San Antonio this past August. He is a very high drive dog. He is a fear biter and he is pan aggressive. I have tried to socialize him with people here but for some reason he gets all excited (happy), then just snaps. When we were in Texas (at my home base) this was not an issue but since we have...

Ed, Just ordered your dominant dog collar and orbee ball. Headed off to K-9 school at IL. State Police Academy day after labor day. My dept. gave me a chain link kennel 4' x 12'. Have a dominant Malinois and was wondering if the steel mesh kennel would be better as he is pulling at the chain link on the gate. Also which is better 5' x 15' or 10' by 10'? Your dominant dog video was great! Thanks as always, Eric

I actually have a few questions about the bonding phase for a newly appointed police K9 handler and the PSD. I recently picked up my PSD from the vendor and I will start handler school in two weeks. During those two weeks my PSD has been kenneled for the majority of the time. I take him out of the kennel in the morning for approximately two hours to play, bond and eat. He then goes back into the kennel until the night where he will come out again for the same thing. I don?t give comm...

Dear Ed, I am writing you because you understand police K-9s and I want to know if my fears are ungrounded. I have a 4-1/2-month-old bijon-peke and I live next door to a police officer with a German Shepherd police K-9. He has had the dog 3 years. I have seldom seen the dog because it has been trained not to bark and I don't know when it is out in their yard. However, since we got our first puppy, I've been in our backyard more often than before playing with the puppy and...

Hello! My name is Court. I am a small county Deputy Sheriff and am attempting to train a K-9 on my own budget and time to reduce start up costs, for a k-9 program to pitch to my Sheriff. I am and have been searching for narcotic scent permiated dog toys to work on scent detection. Do you or you company/business have or know where I can find such an item? If you know of any contacts or leads please let me know. Respectfully, Court

Hi Ed Thanks for your great site. I am busy training two dogs for patrol dog and have some questions about the "out" command. I've taught the two dogs according to your dvd, building drive and focus. The dogs will not release the tug until I command them to do so. I have started them on the body bite suit and they bite the arms and do transfers to the legs. I'm going to teach them on the find and bite system. My questions are: When the dogs are on the body bite...

Ed, Just ordered your dominant dog collar and orbee ball. Headed off to K-9 school at IL. State Police Academy day after labor day. My dept. gave me a chain link kennel 4' x 12'. Have a dominant Malinois and was wondering if the steel mesh kennel would be better as he is pulling at the chain link on the gate. Also which is better 5' x 15' or 10' by 10'? Your dominant dog video was great! Thanks as always, Eric

I have a four year old GSD. He is a dual purpose police k9 dog. We train every Sunday. When we are working a scene he will not work with multiple or strange people around in the area. Also if you can believe this he seems to be afraid of the dark somewhat. It seems that during times of need he gets performance anxiety. On training days he is quite the opposite and is nearly perfect. Also if this makes a difference, he supposedly has bad hips. I discovered this when he was two years old. H...

Hi there: I would like to get your opinion on the issue of my dog biting. I am a dog handler for a security company and have a four year old, unneutered, German Shepherd ( who is my K9 partner). I have been handling and training him for about a year and a half now. His obedience is good as well as him protection work. He is not Sch titled. He comes from excellent lines, but is somewhat "sharp". He has in the past suddenly gone after several people. What the provocation was on those...