Police canine handlers, trainers, and supervisors often take great pride in their knowledge and experience. Many have spent years honing their skills, developing training programs, and leading successful deployments. But there’s a dangerous reality in police canine work that often goes unrecognized: you don’t know what you don’t know.

This phrase serves as a reminder that gaps in knowledge aren’t just about what we haven’t learned—they’re about what we don’t even realize we need to learn. In police canine training and deployment, this blind spot can have serious consequences.

A False Sense of Knowledge

In many agencies, handlers and trainers operate within a tight-knit bubble. Their primary influences are local: their department’s trainers, the regional certification process, and how things have “always been done.” This creates an illusion of expertise—one where the belief that “we’ve always done it this way” replaces critical thinking about whether the method is still effective, legal, or aligned with national best practices.

What often goes unnoticed is how drastically police canine policies, training methodologies, and legal rulings can vary from state to state—or even from city to city. A handler or supervisor might believe they are following best practices, unaware that their approach is outdated or even legally problematic in a neighboring jurisdiction.