Of course, no offense; it's good to get your views. Especially at these low prices...

Frost is correct. There are dogs trained to detect firearms. But the one he uses for an example isnt ptotection trained. Like VC says, a dog can be trained to find anything with odor but to use a biting animal....Thats a problem. There is some case law here in Florida that strongly recommends that a working PSD should not be used to sniff individuals for contraband or illgal drugs. This is to prevent accidental bites. The courts though have accepted a K9 alert on an individual if the dog did it on his own accord without direction from the handler. This usually occurs when the dog has casual contact with the public and is not specifically being utilized for the purpose of looking for drugs etc.

None the less, there have been dogs trained, that were very proficient at what they do. That includes dog's fully functional in patrol work. I'm very familiar with the courts concerns on sniffing of persons. There are however, areas where a lesser expectation of privacy do apply. I don't know if the program is still in existance, but it was successful when it was.

DFrost

One of the big reservations about this sort of firearms detection that trainers like Van Camp seem to have is the thought that the dogs should not be off leash. Here is a picture, which reliable sources tell me is of Van Camp clicker training his dog to "sit pretty," that helps to explain this view.


Link

No, no, no. . .thats not mine. Mine has bigger teeth and looks meaner.


Can't be me either. . .I have nicer legs than that guy.


I'm not so worried about the dog being off lead because of a bite, I'm just worried about how the distraction of a stranger, who may be a threat, is going to affect his ability to walk up and scent all over him for a gun. I'm also not so worried about legal sniffer issues. . .we as private citizens don't have those constraints in most cases.

This is whats going to have to happen, the dog is going to have to go over to each person and smell them up and down to detect the firearm. Then they would have to indicate. That doesn't led itself to a PPD role very well.

If thats what you want, the only way it can be used is to screen people in a very obvious way. Like having a checkpoint at the entrance to a party, for example.


That isn't what we're talking about is it Wayne? I thought we were talking about having a protection dog around you who can also alert you to the presence of armed guys in the area.

I don't think that is possible.


It would only be worthwhile to do if you had a dog for estate protection, or something similar. In which case the hand held metal detectors are A LOT less expensive and require less time to train with. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Yeah, I think you're right.

What, that I have better legs?


No question.

Sure looked like VanCamp's @$$ <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />


Just kidding :rolleyes: