I know. I was going to say the same thing. That is sad the k9 dog got killed during it's work.

Angelique,
I used the term "Wisp" to describe how little the dog was exposed to. He had just finished the 400 hr patrol school and this was the very last search of the certification in his drug school. The dog grabbed the aid and the handler saw just a minor poof of powder when the aid got pinctured. It was so minor that the handler felt that just flushing the dogs' mouth and inducing vomiting was enough. An hour later the dog was dead. 560 hours of training down the toilet b/c the handler didn't have, or failed to use a narco kit. Sad

Howard

Howard, this is very sad. I hate the thought that it must have been a horrible death for that dog. What a terrible accident.

Carol, that was a sad story too. The JRT is a hero in my eyes, no matter what the specifics.

That reminds me when DEA had started their K9 program and the first dog they purchased was left in the GOV by his handler, died of heat stroke.I believe it was in Florida, I don't know if you recall this.
But anyways, the worst death to any K9( or not) law Enforcement,Military during training I think are the worst to get over and forget.Because for the most part and in many cases an overlook..that's is so sad..
I cant believe that some meth magots can overload on meth but this dog inhales a bit and died.........WOW sad

I think the worst story I have read about a LE K-9 dying during training was an article I received about a year ago...narc training and the dog found his target (cocaine) and got it out from under the fridge (I think it was) and punctured the bag it was in. Since they saw white powder on his muzzle but not IN his mouth they figured he did not get anything. 20 minutes later the dog dropped into seizures and they could not save him.

What made me upset was the fact that the people at the training did not realize that once cocaine hits moisture it dissolves, hence the reason they did not see it IN his mouth.

I will try and find the article, I have it somewhere on my computer.....

Carol, I don't understand why they felt the dog was safe since the cocaine was seemingly only on his muzzle. That to me is just not sensible. Cocaine powder - on a dog's muzzle - he probably inhaled some, as well as probably licked his muzzle. All the possibilities and/or probabilities would have me freaked out for my dog and running him to emergency.

A question: aren't narc dogs trained NOT to touch the target/find?

I don't understand it either, but sometimes people just do not think. He punctured a "puncture proof" bag that the cocaine was in.
I am sure the article is on my computer at the office.

If I have time today I will run down there and add the link, if not I will post it when I get to work tomorrow.

The dog was an aggressive alert dog so I would think that he was probably digging at the source of scent and the bag came out. They are dogs after all and if the handler was late with reward it would makes sense that the dog would grab it. I am NOT saying that is what happened, just a possible reason.

From what I have learned about aggressive alert dogs, you need to make sure your source is secure so that the dog does not have any way to get to it, and if the dog does in fact reveal you need to be right there to make sure the dog does not get into it.
Plus, you really want to stop the dog from doing more damage to property than what is actually needed.

Source = Reward in the dogs mind. So when the dog is correct the reward has got to come NOW. This helps to eliminate possible reveal and accidents like this.

At least that is how I understand it as I have seen quite a few newer handlers be chastised in front of the whole class when they are late with reward.

The dogs that I work around are trained to think that the reward comes from the area where the source is, these dogs DO NOT look to their handlers when they find source, they stare, dig, bark or whatever at the source and we throw the toy down where they are staring. The dogs are usually so focused that the toy just seems to magically appear out of no where for them.

Do they know the toy is coming from the handler? Probably, but they are trained to focus on source.

I hope I explained that correctly. I am sure someone else will have a better explanation......

Howard may have a better way to explain it for example.

No. They're trained to go to the source of the odor. We strive to have the dog get as close as possible so that the odor is pinpointed (to refer how close we want them). This keeps the dog from indicating on residue unless thats all that is available, then the dog has no choice. He will indicate on the strongest residue source available at the time of that specific search. LEO's do not specifically train for residue alerts. Its just a by product of the training.

The dog has no idea how dangerous the drugs are to them. All they know is that they are playing a game, which of course, dogs love to do. To teach the dog to "leave it" and "Find it" would be counterproductive for the trainer and confusing to the dog.

Some dogs want to play the search game so bad that they will grab the item they are looking for. Thats why the person setting out the training aids has to extremely carefull that the dog cannot actually grab the aid. The reason the dog may grab the aid is because alot of the initial training for drugs involves playing tug or fetch with drug scented towels or pieces of PVC pipe with the odor on/in it. Its natural for the dog to want to pick up the thing that we have allowed to bring him so much pleasure. Its up to the handler to keep the dog safe but accidents happen.

Howard

Carol,

I was typing as you posted so I'm a little behind the curve here. My drug dog was aggressive alert. My bomb dog passive. The drug dog was rewarded when he was seriously scratching at the source of the odor. The reward came over his head from behind and was supposed to hit him in the feet as he was scratching. The theory being that the dog is actually digging his toy out of the area where the source of odor is. This mindset was instilled into the dog early in the training by burying his toy with psuedo cocaine/heroin powder in the dirt. I also used heavy cardboard boxes duct taped closed. In the box is the reward as well as a drug scented towel or psuedo powder. To build the alert the dog had to aggressively tear open the box or dig the hole in the ground and Viola! the toy is there.

All it takes is for the handler to allow the dog to see him throw the reward and then you have a dog looking back on the alert which drops in intensity.

Anyway, The dog got hold of the aid somehow and it ended tragically. Funny how these threads stray eh? This one is mainly my fault.

Howard

So basically we are saying the same thing, you however explain it WAY better than I do.....thanks
Yep it is funny how they stray, but for the people with serious questions about it, at least they are learning. And THAT is a good thing....