I could not figure out where to put this post...so here it is:

In the past 2 years my son has expressed desires to become a K-9 handler for the police dept.

What must I do to nurture this desire of my sons?

(Background: We have owned 2 GSDs, he is now 8 years old, does well with the dogs and is a little to rough with pups. We are currently studying to train our newest pup who is still with her litter to get her CD title)

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One thing I would do is join a schutzhund club that allows you to bring him. My 9 year old son has be a part of our schutzhund club (Fox Valley Police and Schutzhund) since he was about 5 years old. He has gone with me most every Saturday for the last 4 years. He hleps out and mainly hangs around and watches. He has no interest in training yet. If he did I would have him working one of my trained dogs first. Eventually I would have him training one from a puppy.

You would be surprise how much a child will pick up about dog training being submersed in it all the time. He also love the travel and trials.

In my opinion the beast way to nurture his interest is to get him involved.

Oh yea, one other thing. I'm kinda hoping I have my own decoy in a couple of years.

That sounds familiar, Eric! I'm working on trying to convince my son (who is 7) to take more of an interest. And by "watching Daddy", maybe he'll pick up on some techniques and want to become my decoy in the future. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I agree with the other posters. You may also want to get him into a 4-H dog group. He will learn a lot there also. And being around other kids with the same interest is a good thing. I was in 4-H and showed my first dog at the fair when I was 9. I continued 4-H even after I got my first GSD when I was 12. I started working with a Schutzhund and K-9 trainer when I was 12. They also had me act as the helper a few times for some of their police K-9s when I was about 15. It also helped the dogs to figure out that "bad guys' come in all sizes, ages, and sexes.( I am also female). The wanted to make sure that their dogs wouldn't hesitate to bite a young girl if the need arose(sp).
One thing you need to ingrain(sp) in your sons head is that it is OK to be different. (I'm sure you already know this.) From past experience I know that he may get some flack from his peers if he is into dogs. And if he is at all sensitive to peer pressure it may damage his desire to be involved with the dogs.
Another thing you may be able to do when he is older is have him go on some "ride alongs" with a K-9 handler (If this is still allowed.) So he can see what it is REALLY like on the street.

Hello All:

That is great that you son is showing interest in both dogs and in law enforcement. I would try and expose him to as many aspects as possible. Most of the dog info here has been really positive, 4-H, or volunteering at the county shelter or perhaps at your local vets office down the road. At his age, you can get him use to being part of a team and learning the concepts of teamwork, practice, etc. The scouts and sports do great work in this area.

You will have to remind him that before he can become a handler, he has to become an officer or deputy first. So, he has to study hard, work out by running and exercising (they do that stuff in the academy, etc), chose his friends wisely, don't get into trouble or succumb to peer pressure when he is older, etc.

Since he is so young, I would do as much as you can to get him involved with your local police dept. At some agencies they have explorer programs, but I think you have around 16-17 to do that. In the meantime, you can get him involved with some of the many programs that are available. Programs like PAL (police athletic leagues), DARE, Neighborhood Watch or Safe Home programs will give him #1 exposure to public safety personnel (both law enforcement as well as fire/EMS) and hopefully he will have positive experiences that will last a lifetime.
Hope this helps,
Brandon

I think this is very good. I wish I would've pursued these things as a child instead of sports. With these skills he'll use them after he grows up if he wants.

It never set well with me that when sports was over I could no longer use them.

Kids as they mature need reasons to stay out of trouble and I think this is good. Good luck.

Great suggestions from all those above. I agree with Brandon re: a police explorer program. I saw on another post that you're in NC as I am. I may be able to refer you to an individual in a police department in NC. We have discussed using some of the "explorers" in our training such as laying tracks for our dogs. This would be closely supervised as we like to train in many parts of our community.

A schutzhund club would be great but they are so few and far between. He couldn't beat the info that he would gain from clubmembers. There is also a lot dedicated individuals in many of these clubs. When my handler start grumbling I remind then that there are people putting in numerous hours each day just because they enjoy it. You guys get paid to do one of the greatest jobs in the world.

Many police departments are seeking individuals with a college degree. In many cases it does not seem to matter what the degree is in.

I wish I had more opportunities or formal direction when I was younger. Never too old to learn though!

Hi Again:

I was reading the previous post and I forgot something. He is right, most places now want a 4 year college degree. Also, bilingual skills are in very high demand as well. There are also some places here in California that prefer candidates to have both a POST certificate as well as an EMT or Paramedic certification. I hope we aren't discouraging your little guy, keep him positive and let him know that he has quite a few years before he can do what he wants but expose him to as much as possible and get him involved in as many community service activities as possible. I know the club that I trained at had a minimum age of 21 but the younges was about 25 or so. I don't know if the AKC has age requirements, perhaps he can work the family pet in OB and shoot for a CGC/CD by the time he is 12 or something like that?
Hope that helps,
Brandon

Get the kid involved, but no pressure. I was a 5 year old hanging out at the Club, I hated it for years. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />