Rewarding the Substance Detector Dog

Beliefs, Traditions and Facts...

• Don't let the dog see where the reward is coming from
• Keep your feet moving when your dog stops to investigate
• Make the reward EXPLODE from the source so the dog thinks it exploded from within the source
• PRESTEM the dog with the reward by acting as though you are hiding the reward
• Your dog is NOT really looking for the contraband, he thinks he is looking for his reward
• Use a contraband scented reward with your dog
• Hiding the contraband with the reward (Primary Reward) is the only way to teach substance detection
• Praise your dog while he is alerting
• Combine the substance odor with a stuffed toy and encourage the dog to destroy the toy to build his alert

Like anyone else handling or training detection dogs, I have heard these statements and advice many times during my 27 years in the dog business. Most K-9 professionals that know me, will in all probability, tell you that they came to know me from my attending one of their seminars or competitions in the past. Many years ago I adopted a policy of keeping my eyes and ears open and my mouth shut while attending any and every seminar possible. That policy has served me very well over the past as I learned, and have strived to learn, volumes from many fine K-9 professionals. This VIDE-ARTICLE is a somewhat new concept that takes advantage of technology by combining the versatility of the internet with the professional platform of POLICE K-9 MAGAZINE. It is an attempt to express some of the knowledge I have gained by not only listening to other K-9 professionals, but by also documenting and paying close attention to the dogs themselves. There will be segments in this article where I will refer you to a specific website where I have posted video clips with narration. These clips should assist in making these ideas and philosophies easier to comprehend and clearly explain their origin. Here is how it works…during this article I will periodically ask you to refer to the website www.randyhare.com/videolink.htm . Click on the “Video Clip Page” and open the video titled “Video 1”. There may or may not be a password provided to view each different clip. Viewing the other clips will make little sense without the assistance of this article and the same holds true for the article by itself without the clips. So deploy a nice online computer with a fast connection and view the first video clip.  VIEW VIDEO #1 - PC, Alec, Veto