From Officer David Dewey
Tazor is doing well with his drug training. He seems to have mastered the “alert” which is how he tells me he’s found drugs. The alert is the hardest part of the drug training, as it isn’t quite a natural thing for the dogs to do, but something we teach them. He will be an “aggressive alert” dog, which means he will scratch and bite at the ‘find,’ as opposed to passive alert dogs, which sit and stare at the ‘find.’ Most of VT’s K-9s are aggressive alert dogs.
He is now searching well for marijuana, cocaine, and heroin. Each week we add a new drug, and add different and new surfaces for him to search and alert on. It is a slow process, and we have to show him the same level of excitement after 30 searches as we did for the first, just to keep him motivated. Its all based on play, so he gets a reward after each correct alert.
We’re also adding in more realistic searches, to include empty boxes, higher finds, distractions, and such. We add a little bit more of a challenge each time. Keep it simple, set him up for success, and then add a challenge.
More when I get the chance.