i am currently working for a small west texas agency. i have heard of places that donate trained drug dogs. i am trying to get any information on this that is possible. grants are very time consuming and almost impossible to get at times. i need any information that can be given and/or hints of how to get a dog and/or training for little or no cost to this department. thank you!

I don't know if you are a trained narcotics dog handler. If not i think it's useless to get a trained dog. You would need training too to be able to "read" your dog and keep it on a good level. A trained drug dog represents a lot of money and I don't think the good ones are donated for free. Using a drug dog requires professionalism and if the department doesn't want to pay for it than I think you should forget it.

The county I live in had a raffle and a bake sale to come up with the funds for a dual purpose dog and handler training.

I've advised a few small rural Police departments on the in's and out's of getting the funding for a dog.
Each time the department managed to get the funds by doing an educational meeting with the local Chamber of Commerce which resulted in donations of enough funding to get a canine program on solid footing.
I'd definitely recommend this approach, as it's worked three times already that I've seen.
Better to get the money and seek out quality dogs and training versus hoping that a no-cost donated dogs will work out - they usually don't.

A handler from my training group raised $32,000 in donations for his K9 program. Check with your DA's office and see if there are any drug forfeiture monies available. Some of your "big box" retailers have funds set aside every year for law enforcement.

Matthew,

Right you are. "Milkbone" donated five grand to our agency for a bomb dog. Of course we had to have a big media event when we recieved the funds. No skin of our back though, it was worth it.

WOW! Thanks for the vote of confidence.....NOT!

Larry,
With the attitude that you've just shown, don't expect many posters to offering you advice in the future. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

Jan's response is quick and to the point, but it's correct.

Larry,
Will is right, and so is Jan. If it doesn't apply to you then it doesn't, but Jan was just pointing out something to think about if you are not trained in reading the dog. It's alot more than just hey dog search, dog will always find and sit or scratch. I worked very closely with an EDD team when I was at the US embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. I myself wasn't a K-9 handler, but being a dog enthusiast, I learned detection skills from then, and at times I even handled the EDD (those dogs are use to being handled by multiple handlers) It was alot more than I thought.

Ok Larry,
Lets look at it from this perspective.
No where in any training you should have received in law enforcement work did the use of a specific tool come without training.
You will be asked to provide such documentation for breath tests, use of O.C. products, crime scene photography etc.
One of the recognized specialties in law enforcement in the US is handling of a police service dog. In drug work, you will be asked to provide such documentation. Any plan to train a drug dog, apply a drug dog, to handle a drug dog will be viewed based not only on the qualifications of the trainer involved but also of the handler. You will need a chain of certification for both your training and your dog's training. This is an industry standard. Your plans on obtaining a dog must include that.
In a small department it is not only $$. To be gone an extended period of time (for narcs....a minimum of three weeks with a pre trained dog) often puts a strain on the whole department both in terms of shift coverage and in terms of overtime budget.
How you obtain the training could be by a trained qualified vender, another department that may or may not charge $$. Few states have detector dog training programs as part of an academy type program. Occasionally a federal agency will allow a outside agency to attend one of their programs (becoming more difficult as all these programs are getting pretty heavily worked these days).
So what Jan says applies. Plainly said......something I generally expect from our Dutch friends.

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WOW! Thanks for the vote of confidence.....NOT!