I have said it before here on this blog and it is often said in the dog training community that “The only thing two dog trainers can agree upon is what a third dog trainer is doing wrong”. That paradox makes agreement to methodology always under scrutiny and debate. There is only one way to […]

I was watching a TSA instructor working with a student and his canine. The dog was searching passengers waiting in a moving queue through those retractable stanchions. The handler had to approach each passenger as a potential target and continue to search in this scenario for up to 20 minutes. The student was a little […]

One of the hurdles we have to overcome is in the sales of dogs. Everyone would like to have a clear understanding of what the assessment will look like and how it is evaluated – including existing vendors. A vendor recently brought 11 dogs to be evaluated for the DOD (Department of Defense). This vendor […]

I’ve been answering a lot of questions lately about what happens when a dog reaches the end of our program. The bottom line is that what happens is entirely up to you. We, the program staff, don’t require you to sell your dog and by the same token we can’t guarantee any particular outcome. Once […]

What’s a ballpark estimate of how much these dogs should sell for? You may have noticed that we really REALLY don’t like answering this question—there are so many factors involved, it is nearly impossible to give an accurate answer so we’ve been trying to avoid giving anyone false expectations. The best we can do is […]

In 2014 the TSA surveyed their detection dog handlers to find out what traits in their canine partners the handlers considered important to their success as detection dogs. The goal of the study was to determine whether the traits assessed by the staff of the breeding program during the dogs’ development (using standardized assessment tools […]

This program has been helping people to raise detection dogs since February of 2019. That means that we have people now with adult dogs who want to know what the next step is for them to have the dog looked at for purchase. The how of it is a little complicated. It is complicated by […]

[accordion] [accordion_panel title="2020"] July Now what do I do? Looking for what is next for your dog June Obedience or no? May What makes a successful detection dog? Dog Sales Overview, Part II Dog Sales Overview, Part I February State, regional, national, and international police canine groups [/accordion_panel] [/accordion] [accordion] [accordion_panel title="2019"] October Dog Vendors […]

In 2014 the TSA surveyed their detection dog handlers to find out what traits in their canine partners the handlers considered important to their success as detection dogs. The goal of the study was to determine whether the traits assessed by the staff of the breeding program during the dogs’ development (using standardized assessment tools […]

At a recent press event, the Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture, Auditor General and the sponsors of Senate Bill 663 and House Bill 1504 called on the Legislature to take action on bills that will increase fees for dog licenses in an effort to help address funding concerns with the Pennsylvania Dog Law program. These bills […]