On March 8th and 9th a group of 13 decoys came to Sanford NC to try out for PSA Trial Decoy Certification. Instructors for the camp were: Jerry Bradshaw, East Coast Director, Rick Furrow, East Coast Asst. Director and an accomplished PSA Decoy, Scott Battle, PSA Decoy and 2007 National Select Decoy.

Supporting the camp were Greg Williams, PSA Judge, Katrina Kardiasmenos, Rick Galloway, Janet Dooley, PSA 2007 Level 1 National Champion, among others. We really appreciate those people who came to allow the decoys to work their dogs to test for certification. Without strong dogs, you can;t test strong decoys.

The camp began with in intro to PSA as we had some very new people. and what is expected of PSA decoys in terms of skills and integrity. The PSA style was described, and then Scott Battle demonstrated a PSA handler attack, and a courage test on Janet Dooley's Zuko PSA 1. The speed and power of the decoy work was emphasized to the aspiring decoys.

Easch decoy was then asked to catch dogs on runaway bites and put a drive on them so we could evaluate their ability to catch a dog safely before we asked them to so anything complicated.  This initial evaluation separated some decoys out at too inexperienced, in all likelihood, for certification. These decoys were taken by Mr. Battle to work on fundamentals of catching.

All the decoys were shown proper drive tgechniques in the bite suit, and practiced without dogs for a number of sprints.

We then moved on to catching dogs in the front, and to catching and driving dogs properly, The field was a bit wet from the rain and we had a few slips, but overall the decoys caught on quickly, and with practice by the end of the first day we say some very good prospects for certification out of the original 13.

On the second day, the emphasis was on the courage test catch. In PSA the courage test in the suit is our signature exercise. What sets us apart is our courage test, and doing it safely, as well as the power in the drives - the PSA signature pressure in the suit that you do not see in any other protection sport. The decoys started short, and worked their way to longer catches. here are a couple examples of the decoy work at the camp that were posted by Tim Roberts on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbg4D_VySu0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aMTKYWUSC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8B0fZ8z7eQ

In the end we had the following decoys certify:

Full Certification: Robert Kelley, NH; Bill Reynolds, PA; Mark Patillo, GA;Jody Butler, NC;Shawn Edwards, MD;Tim Roberts, NC;

car jack & Handler Attack: Kevin Logan, ME.

A special thank you to Katrina K for the pics to share with the everyone on the blog!

See you in TN at the next PSA Event.

Just back from the Law Dog 2008 Police K9 Conference in Las Vegas. This was my second year participating as a presenter, and the second year I had the opportunity to meet an excellent group of speakers and attendees.

Highlights for me were the opportunity to see Stewart Hilliard, Ph.D. who is currently the Chief of MWD Course, DOD Lackland. Stewart came to Tarheel Canine twice for seminars about 4 or so years ago, one for my staff and some outside attendees, and once to teach with me for the K9 Unit at Ft. Bragg, NC. It was a great opportunity for us to catch up with each other, and it was great to see him. In Las Vegas, Stewart spoke on "Out Problems" as well as PSD selection testing. As usual he gave a thorough treatment of the behavioral foundations of out problems, and how to remedy them. He presented video of the numerous dogs he has had the opportunity to work with in the DOD courses he has conducted over the last few years. If you have a chance to get to a seminar by Stewart Hilliard, do it. There is nobody more knowledgable about dog training theory and its practice. In addition, he is a great teacher.

I also had the opportunity to meet Steve White of the  Seattle PD K9 Unit., and I2IK9 (www.i2ik9.com)  He gave an excellent presentation on training techniques for Hard Surface/Urban Tracking. Steve uses positive reinforcement methods to teach tracking on hard surfaces, article search , and many other police dog skills. Steve and his wife Jennifer White are passionate trainers, and very nice people. I am glad to have had the opportuity to meet them both, and look forward to interacting with them both personally and professionally in the coming years.

I also want to take the opportunity to thank the seminar participants who came to my presentation titled, "The Misapplication of Force in Police Dog Training." The goal of my talk was to convince listeners to look first to positive reinforcement in teaching new concepts in training, before teaching with negative reinforcement techniques. I covered four examples where force is traditionally used, and in my opinion, often creates more problems than it solves. The examples I used were: Handler Aggression, Obedience Training, Out on Command, and the Call-Off (Recall) exercise.

In my recently released manual, "Controlled Aggression in Theory & Practice," (available at www.tarheelcanine.com) I cover in detail, the approaches to training obedience, out, and the call-off to achieve better results by emphasizing motivation and reward balance in training, and that reward is essential in building a proper foundation for learning, and to limit  stress and the cross-over effects of stress. In my talk I explained new and different approaches to dealing with handler aggressive dogs to achieve better results and a better relationship, where this kind of behavior doesn't interfere in the effecient use of K9 resources.

I came away from this meeting noting that K9 handlers are hungry for more information to use in their training. I also came to see that many of the handlers who came to this conference are willing to see beyond what they may have been taught in the past, and be open to new ideas. I applaud those of you who came, learned, and will go back to your units and enrich the training experience of your K9s.

I want to thank Danny King, Invictus Tactical, for putting on an excellent event in Las Vegas. Go to www.invictustactical.com for more information on the Law Dog conference, and to get ready for 2009!

Two years ago, the National tactical Police Dog Association Inc. (NTPDA) was founded as an organization designed to provide real-world training certifications as well as a platform for relaying new information on training and deployment to K9 handlers and civilians in the police dog business.  Please look at the website, www.tacticalcanine.com in the coming weeks, to see the new certification standards, and to see the new Accreditation Process for Training Facilities (all facilities not just police K9 facilities). Also, look at the upcoming events for seminars. NTPDA will keep costs for ongoing education low (average of $40 for a three day seminar per K9 team!).  There are a lot of new member benefits aside from accreditation and low cost seminars, such as a new discussion board for members, and discounts from K9 retaillers for members.

Jerry Bradshaw