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I often hear handlers say their dog is bored when displaying less than enthusiastic interest when searching. One problem humans have when training dogs are, they may not understand what a dog is doing or misinterpreted the body language. Ask yourself, is a dog bored when they do not show interest or are they bored because of many deployments without receiving any stimulus or reward? An example of a dog that is disinterested while searching a vehicle might show a dog not searching the productive areas, just walking straight ahead. The only odor they will detect is what comes across their noses. We know that available odor depends on the packaging, vapor pressure, and air movement. It is possible for a dog that is not actively searching to have a high probability of a miss.

Likewise, we know that dogs will include the environment in which they work and train. This includes understanding patterns and places where they have had success and where they never find anything. An extraordinary example of this is an area where I observed dogs that searched hundreds of vehicles a day. Once during a dog's shift, a vehicle, the same type of vehicle and the same color each time, came through the search area or parked nearby. This vehicle contained an odor, and the dog was rewarded with a successful indication. This same pattern was presented every day to the dogs. The dogs soon realized that the only vehicle that they could receive their reward was that vehicle. They showed boredom or disinterest in every other vehicle. Additionally, every vehicle that came by that was the same type as the target one often produced an indication of odor. The dogs would give a final response where there was no odor.

Why We Use Points in our Certification

The United States Police Canine Association believes that certifications are a first step in recognizing a canine team's capabilities for actual scenario-based deployment training. The second step is to transition the team into actual deployment training that their agency provides. Those may include specific applications of canine scent or odor detection. Like most police canine training, it is a step by step approach to becoming an operational canine team. Many canine handlers do not have a certified trainer close by but still require some validation for their training. We provide that validation using points to reflect a scale of performance on each exercise. Lower scores encourage the improvement of training and ideas. Our test requires seventy percent or higher to pass. What makes our tests seem difficult is not the test itself, but the fact you must earn it, we do not lower the bar. Lowering the requirements for a canine team gives them a false impression of what they have. While the handler may know they did not pass within a few weeks, they will act like they passed and not train to improve or correct the issues. Teams failing to certify will not immediately be given a second chance. Multiple tests of the same team will not be conducted. The team must undergo a period of retraining, documenting successful performance, before any attempt at re-certification. You may question why we do not immediately retest, and it would be a good question. Our job is to evaluate a canine team. Correcting mistakes on the field will not solve the fundamental errors and may leave a more profound problem. A more permanent solution is to go home and train or retrain over some time, modifying the training to resolve the issue.