K-9 Police training is a totally different ball game altogether. While most owners train their dogs for convenience and at times for fun, this training is for a job. In this case, it's the pup's job. It requires the utmost patience and dedication, since unlike a regular dog, they cannot afford to make a mistake.
Police dog training focuses on safety and obedience, while honing the dog's inherent canine skills, abilities and senses. He must learn to obey his handler immediately and every time. Failure to do so will invariably result in physical harm to the dog, the handler or the general public. Along with this a they are of a lot of importance to the police in solving crimes, tracking down persons, detecting bombs, and many other ways which require practicing the dog's abilities.
In order to achieve this combination of domestication and savageness, police dogs are put through intensive training with or without their handlers. This training involves first figuring out their capabilities, and then starting a method of communication with them. The dogs attacking and tracking skills will be developed, keeping in mind his strengths and weaknesses. Due to this usually, certain breeds of dogs with desirable qualities are preferred for police dog training.
K-9 Trainers are usually not trained with their handlers. Often, they will be trained in an altogether different country. Therefore, when a handler becomes in-charge of a police dog, a certain period of adjustment and 'breaking in' is required so that the dog and handler become used to each other. Also, the handler has to be trained to give commands in exactly the same way as the K-9's used to while he's training. Therefore some time has to be spent wherein the handler also needs to be trained to handle the dog. Also, you will notice that it is usually the same trainer with the same dog every time.
by Cary Benjamin
