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Training Paws For The Law By Hugh Jones |
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Human athletes trying out for a team know the first day can make or break them. It's tough on purpose, to test their mettle. Law enforcement recruits often face similar conditions, even the dogs, if they find Rick Maynord on the other end of the leash. Imagine being put in a crate, shoved into the belly of an airplane and flying for 20 hours to emerge in a strange setting with unfamiliar faces. And some guy is waving a ball in your face. Maynord isn't trying to be cruel. Like a recruiter, he's interested in more than physical qualities. He's looking for motivation and desire. "As an importer and trainer, the first thing I do when a dog arrives from Europe is start testing him," he says. "That goes against the grain of many trainers, who, knowing the dog is disrupted, want to let him settle in for a few days. So they put him in a kennel. Then they go to get him out, and he won't let them. "I've found I get the truest evaluation of his quality, his drive, his aggressive courage when he's in his worst condition. At that point, I'm looking more at desire than capability. How does he look under stress? Is his drive strong enough to override distractions? If he looks good in that shape, if I show him that ball and he's ready to play, I've got a winner." The Norman Police Department's lone K-9 officer knows potential when he sees it. Since 1983, he's trained hundreds of dogs for departments in several states, including the Oklahoma County Sheriff. Maynord, 43, is an award-winning member of the United States Police K-9 Association, which sets the strictest standards for police dogs. The European Connection "In Europe, they have working dog clubs," he says. "It's a big sport there. Dogs are bred specifically for their working ability. Brokers target these clubs to select dogs suitable for police service. We don't have anything like that here. The dogs must meet temperament as well as physical standards before they can be bred and registered. But the training they do is really just foundation work. We do our own molding." The optimal age to begin training is from one to three years. And it starts with what Maynord calls ball drive. He holds it in his hand. It doesn't look like a ball. It's a funny, kind of bell-shaped rubber thing. But to Axel, his German Shepherd, it's a ball, and he's excited. Maynord tosses it on the ground; Axel grabs it and takes off like a bullet for who knows where. When he's 30 yards away, Maynord, with an authoritative tone, says, "Get back here." Axel does an immediate about-face, trots to his side and looks up, as if to say, "Sorry, boss, just a little energy surge there." Axel is as handsome, massive and playful to the point it's hard to visualize their serious side. And, to the PetGazette's relief, they're easy to photograph. The handlers tell them to sit; they sit. Hold their beloved ball behind the photographer, and they become statues. Oh, but that all animal subjects were so cooperative. German Shepherds are, obviously, German in origin. It's said their forebears were used for centuries in herding and general farm work, noted for their ruggedness, stamina and trainability. In World War I, they served as messengers and as rescue and medical dogs, carrying drugs. After the war, they began to spread around the world, where they also earned an unfavorable reputation for aggressiveness. The key is knowing how to handle the temperament, which leads to people like Maynord. He echoes Daves' comments. "Many years ago, police dogs couldn't be around people. They wanted to eat everybody up. But you can turn ours off and on like a switch. Some have rougher dispositions, might be a little harder to socialize with. But they're just like people with different personalities." Play and Prey However, what it comes down to is the dogs are prey driven, compelled to chase whatever moves away from them. The prey drive relates to detection work also, which leads back to ball drive, which equates with play. But, if you're that burglar in the first story, you won't think play when Axel takes charge. "We look for dogs that are prey driven," says Maynord, "that have the capability, when threatened, to become aggressive. Whether the dog views it as a serious encounter or just another training session, depends on the way he's trained. If he's properly trained, he knows there can be pain involved. When a person fights and it gets painful, the dog will escalate accordingly." In other words, causing Axel pain is just going to put you in hotter water than you're already in. And he doesn't holler uncle. The prey drive comes first. Then a self-defense drive kicks in. "What often happens is the suspect panics, and the dog goes into a more offensive mode, not knowing it from hostility. If the guy's trying to give up and he's panic stricken, that's where the control comes in. It's my responsibility to get the dog off, so I can take the suspect into custody." Maynord raises an eyebrow. "On the other hand, if he's fighting, then the handler needs to be in there fighting with the dog. Then it's no-holds-barred." The odds, to be sure, are with the tag team. The whole of the dog is a fearsome force. During training, he will even be muzzled at times to be taught to use his body as a weapon. Fortunately, he's a weapon with ears. "In certification trials, we send the dog after a fleeing suspect and have to recall him while the suspect continues to run," he says. "From a distance of 20 to 40 yards, that's difficult to do with a high-velocity dog. It requires a lot of training. We prepare him for World War III. At the same time, we have to be able to control him." Bite The Baddie During the trials, a suspect will wear only arm protection. Therefore, the dog must be targeted. But when Maynord trains for searches in buildings or woods, the suspect wears a body suit, because when the dog finds him, he's going to drag him out by whatever part of the anatomy is available. That's part of his reward. Say you have a patrol dog that lacks the drive for drug or bomb detection work but is a good tracker. His motivation is that he might get to bite the bad guy. Maynord says if the dog isn't rewarded, eventually he'll quit working. That doesn't mean the bad guy purposely becomes a doggie treat. As a rule, the reward is simply praise from the handler. And the handler also comes under Maynord's supervision. "The way we do it, I have professional handlers who get the dogs ready for the streets, while I oversee the training. In the last few weeks, we bring in the handler who will be teamed with the dog. He has to be trained also, and they need enough time to get to know each other and form the bonding relationship." Maynord stresses the need for balanced dogs. If they can become dual purpose, it's more cost effective. But training them for patrol work is one thing. Drug and bomb detection is a different game. And that's what it is to the dog, a game. The dog must be motivated to work. But the work is play to him. If he's not interested in playing, he's hard to motivate-thus, the ball drive factor. "It takes a different set of drives for detection work," says Maynord. "There are a lot of good patrol dogs that won't fetch a ball. They're strictly motivated to apprehend suspects. They do very well at that, but trying to motivate them to search for specific odors is more difficult. These dogs focus through their senses. You have to have something to create desire for the dog to search for narcotic and explosive odors." Axel is chewing happily on the "something." Maynord kneels and takes the ball from him, causing a barrage of barks...must be another one of those energy surges. Experts say dogs want to please their masters. Maynord sees Axel differently. "Here's the bottom line. You know what his basic reward is? He wants to please himself. It's not an artificial thing I put on him. For police service, he has to be motivated and enjoy his work." Maynord returns the ball. Axel looks pleased. Back to Archives |
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