K-9 Fleeing Skills

Acquire an understanding of the daily lifestyle
And work as a k-9 handler An officer needs to understand the versatility of a dog and be aware of how he can best work with the team. Police dogs are an effective resource at the officer’s hands. Fleeing suspects, searching for stolen property, locating and recovering evidence of a crime scene, or apprehending armed and dangerous suspects. These are duties of a k-9 officer and the handler. Not only do the officers work together but they also live together. The two spend about every moment by each other’s side; this takes patients and a lot of work for one another to be confortable. The primary objective of the k9 team is to search for suspects or evidence linked to a specific crime.
There are many ways the dog will track a scent given to them. The tunnel Scent technique is a scent a fleeing suspect leaves and is airborne. This odor comes off of the suspect in a cone like formation and leaves a trail for the animal. Every person’s odor is as unique as a persons fingerprint. The author of “k9 officers manual” states that, “Ethnic origin, health, and the type of foods the suspect eats as well as the perfume or soap is all what makes the individuals scent.” (pg. 18) Also clothing, or articles (could be the stolen items) the person is carrying can play a role in scent tracking for the k9.
Another technique used is windborne scent tracking. Windborne scent tracking is scent from a discarded object that was from previous human contact. An example of this would be a recently discharged gun that was stashed in bushes. The dog being downwind of the gun will alert to the smell of the weapon because it is a foreign smell for that area. This technique can be used hours or even days after an item has been discarded.
These are trailing techniques done in perfect weather circumstances.
I had wondered, what if there is high winds or rain to ruin the airborne scent? According to Lieutenant Cox of the Salina police department, there is a technique called “Scent Trails.” Wherever a person goes they shed thousands of skin particles. These are called rafts and they come in contact with the surrounding area and lay on many items, the k-9 will pick up the scent of the individual through these rafts. Also as the suspect flees through different surfaces this produces fresh scents. This makes new fresh odors for the dogs to fallow, could be split leaves or smashed bugs. This idea of new scents is called ground scents.
Since the dog has a very strong “olfactory lobe” (pg. 25, Eden) of the brain this enables them to freely discriminate scent. Although the track may be contaminated by other peoples scent, the dog can still distinguish between the original tracks. Obviously the more contamination there is, the harder the dog will have to fight and sort between the scents. The movement of people through the scene can often blow the suspects scents into other directions and lead the dog on the wrong path. Thus, sometimes it is up to the handler at the scene to preserve and contain the area for the
k9.

There are many other jobs that a k9 officer and handler do in a regular days work. Such as, building searches, vehicle stops, chemical agents and emergency response. Although tracking is the most widely use for the k9 unit it is a 60% of success. Not only does the k9 team face these tasks daily, they also train regularly, on and off the payroll. The K9 attends training classes each week to keep up with the latest techniques and keep their intelligence and skills as sharp as possible. Some K9 handlers may also set aside a couple of personal hours per day to maintain or teach new techniques or skills. Police dogs do live with their human partner, According to Officer Burr of the Salina Police department, “when off duty and at home the dog is to remain outside in their kennel no matter the situation or weather.” Although the department pays for every cost of the k9 you the handler are the primary care giver of that animal. The dogs are to not be associated with anyone other than you, not even the handler’s family. Although officer Burr did somewhat associate the dog with his wife because certain mornings she did have to feed him. There is no association with any humans other than the handler so that the dog will not familiarize with anyone or become publicly domesticated in anyway. As a handler you rely on your k9 partner just as you would a human and need that k9 to stay on the game plan while at work.
As a k9 team you are part of a unit that is 'on-call ' 24/7. A typical day involves waking up early to get a head start on the day 's visits; an example of beginning the day may be activities at schools, prison cells, airports, or a scene where a drug search or tracking is required. Drug searches are routine procedure at many of these community spots, and police dogs are highly trained to use a specific sniffing and sensing technique to detect evidence of drugs or illegal substances along with fleeing suspects or missing victims. I had the opportunity to personally witness these techniques with many k9 officers in the surrounding areas. Also as a k9 handler depending on the department, if you do not have special calls, you will patrol as a normal unit and do normal daily tasks as any other patrol unit would. “Aside the special tasks the dog offers, being a handler usually just involves more paper work than the other units.” – Officer Burr In some cases, a dog and its partner will be required to make a court appearance.
This may be needed to deliver a testimony or defend against a statement. Police dogs are trained to behave and be tame in social settings, and they become increasingly better at handling new places, settings and environments. The average day for a police dog on duty runs an eight to nine hour shift. The K9 is often found traveling in a special police car made with a backseat for their dog. These are separated from the drivers seat and help make traveling with a K9 much easier. Most k9 patrol cars do not have a transportation seat and often have to call backup to transfer a suspect.
At the end of the day, the K9 gets a good night 's rest to tackle the next set of situations in the day ahead. Being a k9 handler takes a special kind of person. One that is very competitive and self-sufficient. As a handler you need to know your k9 in and out just as the k9 should know the handler. Many extra matters are needed when you are a handler, although without the dogs, countless crimes, suspects and cases would never be solved. I personally am very interested in the field and continue to be more fascinated the more I
learn.

Work Cited
Eden, R. S. K9 Officer 's Manual. Calgary: Detselig Enterprises, 1993. Print.