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The true story of a New Hampshire Police K9 starting with her birth in Germany, her arrival in Portsmouth, NH USA, and her journey to becoming a Police K9.
Follow her through her training.
Collect Kai's Trading Cards as she grows, solve her Cryptogram, and help her get through the Maze to become a real police dog!
Come join the adventures of Kai as she faces the excitement and challenges of "Growing Up K9"! |
Click on card to
get my baby
Trading Card!
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Growing Up K9
The Journey & Journal of a police K9 as told by Kai
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Hi, I'm Kai...( rhymes with "Hi"!.) My name means "Ocean".
I'm a female German Shepherd Dog with a BIG future before me. I've been selected to become a Police K-9. Maybe you've got some questions, like:
"When did they pick me to go into police K-9 work?"
"How did they know I would be good at this job?"
"How long before I will actually be a Police K-9?"
"What kinds of training will I receive?"
The best answer I can give is to join me on my journey!!! |
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Here I am at 4 weeks old. See my eyes? They still have a bluish haze over them. That's because I'm still a baby. I just started being able to walk without falling over, taking nibbles of puppy food, recognizing human voices and playing with my siblings.
ummm...speaking of siblings.... |
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Here I am at about 7 weeks playing tug-rope with my breeder. Over in the corner are my brothers and sisters. One of the first indicators that I would make a good working dog was I would rather play with my human than hang with the other puppies. |
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I was born in Germany... |
This is my mom |
This is my dad |
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| They both have German working-sport titles, called "Schutzhund". That means they are trained and titled in Obedience, Tracking and Protection. They were also shown in a dog show to earn a conformation rating, ranging from "Good-Very Good-Excellent". They each received an official "Breeding Recommendation" of either "Suitable" or "Recommended" for breeding, plus their hips were certified free of hip dysplasia. Wow, what a lot they went through just to have me! That's because puppies bred from dogs with generations of correct conformation, good health and proven working ability have a much better chance of fulfilling their potential than the "hit or miss" type of breeding. That's why they have such high expectations from me!! |
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In Germany, one of the requirements for official breed registration is to be tattooed at 8 weeks old. The tattoo number will tell what litter I came from, what region of Germany I was born in, even which puppy in the litter I was.
Here I am getting my permanent "I.D."
(PS It really didn't hurt very much, I forgot about it as soon as they put me back down on the floor and gave me a toy!) |
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Here I am at 6 months. Everyone kept saying I was all the things a good working dog should be: I was very sociable and I loved meeting new people and going to new places.
Loud noises didn't bother me, in fact I couldn't wait to go see what they were.
I liked learning and was quick to catch on to what they were teaching me, and I would try anything.
I was also very athletic and agile....I really liked tug-of-war, but mostly I loved to play with my my ball!!! All day and every day was A.O.K. with me! |
Click on card to
get my 6 month
Trading Card!
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One day Officer Andy stopped by my house to check out another dog to see if he was suitable for police work. Officer Andy is a German police dog trainer. When he saw me, he thought my potential was outstanding, and was very disappointed I was too young to go to the German Police Dog Academy. He had an idea forming though, and called his police friend, Capt. Lou, in the USA. He told Capt. Lou all about me, and said that I was too good to pass up. Was there an officer there at the Working Dog Foundation looking to raise a young dog as a police K-9? Happily for all involved, (especially me), there was! Officer Tim Black was planning to retire his current K-9 partner, Turbo, in about 15-18 months, and guess when I'd be old enough to go to work? You got it! USA HERE I COME!
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Here I am at my first public demonstration at the Deerfield Fair.
I got to show off my stuff, and then I got to meet the crowd.
Click here to see the dates for the next Deerfield Fair demo! |
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It was a proud day for me. |
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Click here to download the maze puzzle to help me become a police dog! |
| There's a few things I have to learn before I can start my actual police dog training: I'm too young to do the most strenuous exercises. I have to wait until I'm at least 12 months old to do the big jumps or I might damage my growing bones and joints. Here's some examples of the things I'll be learning to do. |
Early Training |
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"Come Here" is the first thing to learn! |
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"Sit" and "Stay" are very, very important and so are "Stand Still" and "Lay Down". |
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In the "Table-Top" exercise I get to use "come", "sit" & "stay" ! |
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K9 Maggie, a Bloodhound, showing me how to start tracking people. |
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Lots of time is spent meeting people.......
and playing with Officer Tim! |
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(but NO chasing cats!)  |
Next I'll be learning how to get over, under, and through a variety of obstacles. |
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The "Tunnels" teach me not to be afraid of closed in spaces. |
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The "Weave Poles" & the "Teeter" help me become more agile & balanced. |
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The "Dog Walk" gives me confidence on narrow, high places. |
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Right now I can jump little jumps...then when I'm a little older, bigger & harder hurdles. |
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When I'm about a year old I can learn the 6 ft. A-frame, which will get me ready to be able to jump and climb walls up to 10 ft. high! (really!) |
Here it is all put together! |
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One of the last things I'll learn is how to apprehend the bad guy by "Barking & Holding" |
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Click here to download the maze puzzle and help me become a police dog!
Click here to get my newest trading card! |
Here I am with Officer Tim and K-9 Turbo after we ran the 2004 Iron Dog Challenge. (OK, after they ran, but wait 'til next year!) To learn more about the Iron Dog Challenge, Click Here. |
It looks like Turbo and I are going one way and Officer Tim another! |
Don't we look awesome? We're getting ready to head out with Off. Rebecca & K-9 Viktor to the K-9 Handlers Appreciation & Award Dinner. Click HERE to read about it and to see a neat picture of us in the newspaper!
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At the K-9 Handlers dinner I finally got to meet my generous sponsor, Anne. She not only donated the money to the Working Dog Foundation to purchase me, she donated the funds to get me here to the USA and my first months of training. Our volunteers & members are absolutely the BEST! |
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C2004-Present All Rights Reserved
All content is for entertainment purposes and not intended as a training manual. |
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