General Purpose Security Dog Course 01/13

Today was the last day of our General Purpose Security Dog Handlers Course held between 3-20 Jan 13.  It was an enjoyable course and although a smaller course (mainly due to the time of year) it ran successfully with everyone achieving high scores in both written and practical tests.   Each team left here thoroughly confident and excited about their new job and handlers looking forward to getting stuck in with their canine partners.

During the first couple of weeks we were incredibly lucky with the weather with sunshine on most days and minimal rain, perfect for getting outdoors and getting stuck into some training.  The last week however we were blessed with some snow (OK lots of snow) but nobody complained we all just wrapped up warm and kept going.  The only thing we were unable to continue with was Agility as it would have been too unsafe to do.  There had been plenty of time for that in the first two weeks though so nobody missed out.

During the course we covered Obedience, Agility, Canine First Aid, Windscenting, Pick Up and Indication, Handler Protection, Tracking, Legislation, Patrol Techniques, Exercise and Physical Development and many other topics.  We used Brenda, one of our own working dogs to demonstrate bandaging and First Aid, she was a very good girl. (Pictured Left)

The last week focused on tracking which was made unpleasant at times for our handlers as it was so cold and heavy snowfall, the dogs however didn't care one bit, they were very focused on doing their job and getting to the target to get their reward.  I have posted a video below of tracking training on one of the more unpleasant days.

The dogs worked exceptionally hard for the whole course and bonded with their new handlers and the teams are all off to start new employment which is great news. Hopefully we will hear back from them in due course as to how they are getting on, we like to keep in contact with the handlers and are always pleased to hear how dogs that have left us are doing in their new careers. I'm sure they will be back for continuation training and hopefully future courses so they are never gone for good.

Obedience Training (Pictured above)

 

Enjoying the Snow