Why is police dog training trying to be kept secretive?

[GSD_man]

I was always wondering ...

Unless you are K9 police officer or possibly press, you are not allowed to observe a police dog training sessions. I already tried. At least that's how it is here in the state of NY. Why is this? Are the cops scared that criminals are going to pick up on their "secret" training strategies or random john doe's are going to produce cop dogs which go out and bite the public. Does police dog training really have to be kept a secret? How come retired K9 cops are allowed to pursue a career in dog training and share their "secrets" with the public.

What am I overlooking here. Your thoughts are appreciated.

[onyx'girl]

The criminals will find out about the favored rewards and then carry them...tugs, balls, treats.

JK

I would have loved to be a K9 LEO handler, wish I wasn't so old now.

[selzer]

I don't know,

Maybe liability

Maybe they do not want just anyone to know the strengths and weaknesses of individual dogs

Maybe they do not want people to see how dogs are trained to track or trail so that people could work on ways to avoid being tracked.

Maybe the individuals have enough to be thinking about and doing that they do not want to be critiqued by the public while doing it.

maybe after training with weed, they all get together at the end of class and have a little party???

[Wolfiesmom]

I know how they train K9's and it's not pretty. It's why the dogs are wired and hyper, and they don't live very long.

[selzer]

Hang on, there are as many ways to train police dogs as there are police departments. Many, many departments train their own dogs. I think they, for the most part, choose dogs that are high energy and high drive.

Some of them are probably terribly hard on the dogs, to the point of being abusive.

I think that the rest are basically trying to prove those dogs inside and out. It is imperitive that police dogs are under control and perform on command and at the same time stay alert and protect. The rest of us can get away with a 78 or 95% performance. Police dogs have to be on the top of their game all the time.

I would expect that would mean rigorous training, with very little room to move either way.

The dog that came to our class for a demo was nine years and still active. I think that ensuring that those dogs are 100% all the time, might make them live longer than they might otherwise.

[Wolfiesmom]

I'm sure there are many ways, but I know for a fact that the big departments around here use the same methods, and it is very harsh. I come from a law enforcement family and know several K9 officers.

[liv]

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (our federal police service) has there training facility about 40 minutes from where I love and they do training and skills demonstrations every week during the summer. You can see their training grounds from the highway, so I don't think they're super secretive about their training. From what I have heard (my breeder knows many of the trainers there) they run a good program and turn out really good police dogs. From what I understand, their dogs are the first response SAR dogs for the entire country, others get a call if needed. My brothers, however, are with our local police dept and their dogs are not only terrible at actual police work - they sound insane. It sounds like the dogs are just as likely to bite their handlers as a suspect (and then only if they can see the suspect because they can't track! They sound exactly like the dogs wolfiesmom is describing, and these are not dogs I would ever want to encounter.

[Castlemaid]

Originally Posted by Wolfiesmom

I know how they train K9's and it's not pretty. It's why the dogs are wired and hyper, and they don't live very long.

Agree with Selzer, you can't make a blanket statement like this and categorize trainers and dogs as all the same.

I watch RCMP dog handlers work their dogs on a weekly basis - some have joined our Schutzhund club and work with our main helper in maintaining and improving the patrol dogs' tracking and fight skills.

They focus on developing a strong relationship with their dogs as their life depends on it. One member brings his young son with him, and we all stand around and watch and cheer on the dog when he brings down the bad guy in training.

As to your question about why? I don't know about the police in your area and their reasoning - I doubt that there is some deep nasty, unspeakable secret going on behind closed doors though - unless one is looking for yet another conspiracy theory.

[GSD_man]

Originally Posted by Wolfiesmom

I know how they train K9's and it's not pretty. It's why the dogs are wired and hyper, and they don't live very long.

I see what you are saying. Good point actually. I haven't thought of it like that. I think somewhere along the lines you are saying that some pro animal activists would have some serious problems with the training practices.

[GSD_man]

Originally Posted by selzer

maybe after training with weed, they all get together at the end of class and have a little party???

sons a bitches ...they want it all for themselves