I agree, on a personal note my brother was killed (in a horrible way) in another state on his property, he had 2 dogs inside his house a lab and lab mix. Nothing related to his death happened in the house but I do understand their entering the house-both of his dogs were subsequently killed, when I arrived they lied about it (killing them), and denied it in every way possible. My speculation is that the dogs knew what happened to my brother and when strange dominant people entered the house became defensive and were "dealt with" I'll never understand why other avenues weren't taken but I'm not convinced any animal training would have resulted in a different outcome, but maybe it would have...

I apologize for my previous post. I realize the bulk of it is unrelated to the original topic. Sorry.

 Quote: Jodi Moen

Nothing related to his death happened in the house but I do understand their entering the house-both of his dogs were subsequently killed, when I arrived they lied about it (killing them), and denied it in every way possible.

1. How do you know there was no connection between what the house and what happened outside.

2. What proof do you have the police killed them. Why would they deny it if they had. Seems like it was already a pretty violent scene.

DFrost

Those are interesting questions. I was wondering the same thing.

Kind of had me thinking that he may have been the victim of an equipment related accident - tractor, backhoe or something.

Jodi, I'm sorry to hear about your brother and his dogs. Sounds tragic regardless of the circumstances.

Its a pretty involved story so I'll try to keep it brief.
He was found burned to death in a car on his property, (car was completely burned down-they left the car in the yard). I live about 900 miles away. No other family went with me. The dogs were missing, I asked where they were figuring like my state they'd hold them for the legal period of time. I was told a "friend" had taken them. I asked to meet the friend to ensure they were in a good home or if I needed to bring them back with me. I was given the runaround, I was not allowed police reports, autopsy reports, etc. Was told they weren't "ready",I met someone coincidentally who knew the circumstances and said to me "isn't it terrible what happened to those dogs" I was told County officers entered the house and the dogs were killed. I then called the local AC looking for the bodies, I ID'd myself as a relative and that I was looking for the dogs, didn't give a description of them and was told "we don't have any black dogs here" Well, how'd they know the color? I then went to the Sheriff's office where a deputy told me the dogs were removed and killed but "we didn't do it."

Deputy told me nothing happened in the house, it all occurred in the yard and the circumstances weren't investigated as suspicious although at the house there were several things I saw that didn't add up, and the person who found him, told me she found him on a certain day and time and it was reported almost a day later. When I told this to the sheriff he said "why would she do that?" Even while I was cleaning out his belongings she was stealing property from his yard, saying "he sold that to me" It was like they couldn't be bothered about my brother and when I was questioning the whereabouts of the dogs all doors closed tight.
I don't even know if my writing this makes sense, there is so much more to it, and obviously I have a very emotional involvement.

Even if officers got a 4 hr block of instruction dealing with dogs on the job they likely retained that info a week maximum. There are so many other things more important to focus studies and work on that dealing with critters is last in their minds. Usually most Dept's have somewhat of a dedicated critter guy...in my dept it's me. They jokingly call me "crocodile Howie". I deal with the gators, snakes of all kinds, coons, possums, hogs, cattle, horses etc but I don't do bee's...never bees, or hornets etc. hate them damn things.

Possum isn't bad, ya just need a lot of bbq sauce. ha ha

So basically, you still have no proof the police went into the house and shot the dogs for no reason. You only suspect they did.

DFrost

 Quote: Howard Knauf

Even if officers got a 4 hr block of instruction dealing with dogs on the job they likely retained that info a week maximum. There are so many other things more important to focus studies and work on that dealing with critters is last in their minds.

I find this very disheartening.
As a National Guardsman, electrician of fifteen years, and now ten years as a petrochemical lab technician, I've attended countless 2-8 hr instruction pods on lots of subjects, from plant safety orientations to riot control to human resources seminars to first aid training. I can still recall the basic principles of most of those lessons, and am able to apply them when needed.
Most of the LEOs that I'm acquainted with seem to have a similar ability to retain and process large amounts of information.

Retaining information on subjects that have information that is a constant isn't the problem. You know as well as I do that when dealing with animals is a whole new...well...animal. Look at it this way. On this board you have as many opinions on what a person sees in dog behavior as you do members. A lot of things are constant but there are too many variables. What's the ol saying???? "The only thing two trainers can agree upon is what the third trainer is doing wrong". Look at some of the threads on here that run 15-20 pages. Some of those threads are about the discussion of some of the most minor things. Then you have the fact that your teaching cops about non cop related stuff for the most part. Their interest is in cop work, not reading animals. They focus on the things that they'll see on a regular basis.

I took a couple of courses on sign language for cops on the street so as to stay safe. I retained that info for less than a year because it was geared towards dangerous situations primarily. After awhile you just forget because you don't use it that much.

I know cops for 20 years who have never faced an aggressive dog or loose horse or cattle. For the guys on my squad it's probably my fault because whenever such call come up I usually handle them. Much like the dozens of times a year I'm called to pick locks on the job. It's not a hard skill learn but in their mind why learn when they have me?

Another analogy that might explain my last post would be this...we are many times called upon to be emergency psychologists even though we aren't qualified. There are some good cops with psych skills but there are ten times more who suck at it. Those that suck at it are more likely to be involved in a violent encounter and do what they have to do. Just sayin...