This is a version of the presentation without the video support, the vide file too large to upload to slideshare, so I apologize for that in advance. This presentation discusses key elements to pay attention to when you are designing scenario based training,

1. Jerry Bradshaw
Tarheel Canine Training, Inc.
1:15PM Tuesday July 16
Davidson A Classroom

3.  Author (Decides the Purpose
of the Scenario - Trainer)
 Beginning (In brief of set up
and information provided)
 Middle (Where the Story
Plays Out)
 End (How the Story
Concludes)
 Players (Good Guys and Bad
Guys)
 Plot (How the story unfolds
including any twists)
 Costume (Dressing as you
would in reality)
 Theme (Message The Story is
Intended to Convey)

4.  Training should exceed
certification requirements.
 Ideally certification
should involve elements
of Scenario training
 This is one of the biggest
reasons scenario training
isn’t done more widely
 Training for the
certification rather than
for deployment.
 Decoys can make or break
scenario work – playing
the role!

5.  Trainer writes the scenario
 Trainer Decides the Purpose of
Scenario and how it plays out in
order to clearly convey the
theme of the scenario.
 Trainer must be a part of the
scenario to provide key
information and to be able to
bail out of the scenario into
support training.
 Too often “Scenario Training” is
just regular training “Dressed
up” with gear on, and while this
serves a purpose to condition
the dog to handler and back up
in deployment gear, unless the
scenario is constructed to
convey some key lessons, the
exercise falls short.

6.  Most Important Issue
 Decision making: K9 handler is
faced with a decision or decisions
based on information given in the in
brief. How to approach situations
with your dog. Relative Strengths
and Weaknesses.
 Tactics: Cover, Concealment,
Communication (Handler & Back-
Up), Officer Safety (Handler & Back-
Up), Managing K9 (general control,
weapon use, less lethal
combinations, gear). These things
are often left out of training.
 Dog MUST have required
foundation work and skills to be
able to complete the scenario!
 Trainer is either “testing” or
“guiding” the decision making
process.

7.  Purpose: K9 Skills or Tactical Approach
or both?
 Are K9 and handler Ready?
 Beginning: Author decides what
information to provide and what to leave
ambiguous.
 Planning the scenario is key…often
things to no go the way the tester
envisions!
 Don’t test too many things at once, as it
can lead to breakdown of the scenario.
 If you identify a weakness in the dog’s
ability, re-set the scenario to address it –
don’t let the dog continue and get a bad
experience.
 Example: Area Search Scenario with 2
Suspects in a car junkyard.
 Elements Being Tested:
 Where to Start? Into Wind….
 Where to place back-up?
 Deployment/Tactical concept?….Clear,
down and cover? Long Line? Off leash?
 Tactics….When dog is on, does handler
approach and clear as he goes? Placement
of back-up during approach…
 Is the dog ready to stay on the grip
during a tactical approach?
 If dog just alerts on a vehicle, recall to
cover, and verbal challenge….once decoy
#1 in custody, can the dog continue
searching?
 In the case it’s a bite, can the dog refocus
and continue?
 How does the handler deal with the dog
if the dog is obsessed with first decoy?
 Temporary intervention by the trainer
can guide handler here….

8.  Once the scenario begins, the
trainer must be able to switch
out of a deployment/scenario
mode into support training.
 Example: Suppose as part of a
tactical building search scenario,
the dog is expected to make an
apprehension in a tight space
under pressure.
 Training should have
ALREADY addressed these
variables before they become
part of a realistic scenario.
However, if the dog has a
problem engaging, the trainer
should have discussed a “bail
out” strategy to make sure the
dog doesn’t have a bad
experience, “TRAINING!”

9.  Deploy from cover
 Alert to Threat
 Make Apprehension
 Get Compliance
 Handcuffing
 Disengage K9
 Re-deploy K9 (Can
you? Always think
+1)

10.  Identifying the passive threat is key element in this
short scenario.
 Deployment of K9 in this case we step out of
tactical scenario and train the engagement how we
want it to play out. Choice of slick floors and 6 foot
leash was deliberate.
 This handler needs to communicate better with
back-up during the engagement and handcuffing.
 This scenario can be made more complex by
adding long-line, maintaining cover during
deployment and engagement, adding a tactical
approach with back up and weapons.

11.  If your foundation
lacks…
 If your skill training is
incomplete…
 You will have trouble
training scenarios and
deploying in real life
 EX: This dog doesn’t
understand a passive
apprehension on a civil
decoy, so preparing an
elaborate scenario
involving this skill will
be a waste of time!

12.  I especially like to train
the “Beginning” part of
a scenario
 EX: Acquiring a Threat
for an apprehension
 If the dog can’t acquire
the threat the rest of the
scenario is meaningless.
 In this video handler
breaks cover to help
“Training”

13.  Once the parts are good,
put it together back to
front – This is called
back-chaining
 Don’t complicate things
too fast, remember to
add variables slowly as
the team progresses
 Know your team’s
relative strengths and
weaknesses.

14.  In bite-work sessions,
start early deploying
from cover positions.
 Train your decoys to
add in ground work
 Add in back-up
 Decondition the dog to
multiple back-up
 Back-Up behind Cover
 Almost all foundation
training can be done in
this environment rather
than on a sterile field

15.  What are the goals of the scenario?
 Are they dog related? K9 Skills
 Are they handler related? Proper Usage, Tactical Decisions, K9
Management.
 Is the dog ready for the complexity of the scenario?
 Will it require full gear? Does that add something important to the
training at hand?
 Is the scenario “doomed to fail?” This does not add confidence for
the handler or K9.
 Train the parts of the scenario, bring it together, then dress it up.
 Always maintain Foundation and Skills proficiency during
scenario training – never operate without a way to influence the
dog’s behavior!
 Behavior is reliable if it is conditioned. Make foundation and skills
a habit so that when the scenario training takes place you have
confidence in your dog!

16.  Identify what elements of scenario will test the
handler’s decision making
 The K9 must be ready in terms of his skills to
be able to focus on the handler’s behavior
 Provide adequate but incomplete information
to the handler
 Deploy/No Deploy Scenarios can be practiced
without a dog (Graham v. Connor)
 “Failure to Engage”? Maintain officer safety!

17.  K9 performance
 Handler Performance
 Video the Scenario if possible for
deconstruction
 What deficiencies in training does the scenario
bring up? Be honest!
 What deficiencies in handler
performance, maintaining
cover, tactics, deployment choices did the
scenario bring up?

18.  Training that doesn’t look like deployment can still prepare
you for the deployment
 Ex: Sustained Confrontations….drive channeling work,
allowing the dog to stay on the grip for extended periods
can physically and mentally condition the dog (Duration)
 Ex: Teaching the dog to FIGHT Hard….using defense
threshold training and drive channeling can teach the dog to
stay in a Fight (Intensity)
 These things shouldn’t just be trotted out for a scenario, they
should be foundational staples of training.
 Training can make the dog dependent on cues not available
in a scenario or deployment…..making noise on a building
search when the dog fails to engage….remember the passive
guy on a bench?

19. 