Working a dog in SAR or Forensics

Throughout my years as a semi-professional dog trainer, I have primarily focused on how to best apply classical and operant conditioning as scientifically, effectively, and cleanly as possible to reduce "handler error"as much as possible. I also regularly assist with the training of other detection dogs. I have very high standards as a handler such as certification and regular re-certification by nationally recognized detection dog organizations. Currently, I am a SAR K9 Handler (live find airscent).

Click here to learn more about my experience and background as a semi-professional canine trainer.

Your Training logs as your Toolbox

Learning to become a knowledgable, consistent, and effective K9 handlers is a life long pursuit.

We consistently use our training logs to document and chart our K9's performance over days, weeks, months, and years. Yet we often neglect to document and chart our own progress and development as handlers in our logs or outside of our debriefs at the end of each training.

The best trainings for our K9s are often those where it’s clear the dog “got it.” Our primary job as handlers includes learning to reduce that dreaded "handler error."If we are documenting our dog's failures and strengths, why neglect documenting our own?

Challenge Survey: How aware are you of your handler behavior?