The photos below are from the October 2006 Patrol Seminar

Working in partnership with the Local Government Center, the Working Dog Foundation/NH Police K-9 Academy hosted the Canine Tactical School (CATS), taught by Brad Smith of Canine Tactical Operations and Consulting, LLC. Corporal Smith is a police officer in West Covina, CA where he has been a SWAT dog handler and trainer for the past 18 years. He developed the 3 day CATS course which encompassed both classroom and extensive field work. Corporal Smith was assisted by Sgt. Jay Miller of Santa Ana, CA, Officer Glen Anderson of Rialto, CA and Officer Danny Ramirez of Oak Brook, IL. Twenty-seven police K-9 teams from NH, Maine, Massachusetts, Virginia, Quebec and Ontario attended, including several Foundation trained teams. Local, county, state and correctional departments were all represented.

Classroom lectures on report writing and liability management rolled into intense field work focusing on real world deployment scenarios and tactical considerations. The teams were challenged with tactical obedience exercises, tactical building searches using SWAT applications, tactical tracks and area searches as well as vehicle extractions. Teams were also exposed to live fire training at the range to complete their exposure.

The basics of dog training often goes counter to good officer safety practices. The purpose of the school was to push the handlers beyond the idea of “training the dog” and bring back into focus that they are police officers with a dangerous job. The challenges and experiences of the school served to make the officers focus on their own actions and their own safety and to trust that their dog would respond as trained even when faced with unfamiliar settings and situations. This was a fantastic opportunity for teams to practice real world applications under experienced and world-recognized instruction.