This PowerPoint presentation was given at the K9 Cop magazine Conference in July 2017. It covers important prerequisite training for effective building search training as well as important behaviors needed for effective proofing of building search behavior. Foundational bitework training, civil aggression, muzzle desensitization and application, using long lines in search training, among other important ideas are covered. Suspect encounters, alert behavior, hunting and cold starts are discussed from the standpoint of how to generalize these behaviors. Special emphasis on how to extinct equipment fixations and a discussion of the hazards of failing to reward search behavior at a frequency needed to ensure powerful, repeatable behavior is presented.

1. PROOFING
BUILDING & AREA
SEARCHES
J E R R Y B R A D S H A W, TA R H E E L C A N I N E T R A I N I N G , I N C .
W W W. TA R H E E L C A N I N E . C O M

2. W O R K I N G
B AC K WA R D S I N T H E
S E Q U E N C E :
Subject
Encounters
The Alert
Hunting
A Proper Start:
Hot-Warm-Cold

3. S U B J E C T
E N CO U N T E R S :
P R E R E Q U I S I T E S
Canine Aggression
Fundamentals
Passive Biting Fluency
Searching on Long
Lines
Muzzle
Deconditioning
Dead Equipment
Neutrality

4. C A N I N E
AG G R E S S I O N
F U N DA M E N TA L S
Prey Drive Development
Defense Drive Development
Drive Channeling
Environmental Fluency while
biting: Slick Floors, tight
spaces, dark rooms, etc.
Targeting Fundamentals

5. C I V I L AG G R E S S I O N
I S K E Y
Building & Area Searches are
prey behaviors (searching)
that can end in defensive
encounters.
Dogs must be prepared for
this drive shift that can
happen in a split second.
Civil Aggression
Development
Pressure while biting
(Duration & Intensity)

6. PA S S I V E B I T I N G
F LU E N C Y
Passivity must equal
threat
Before the dog
encounters a passive
subject in a search he
must know how to deal
with a passive subject
outside of searching.
Examples: prone passive
civil subject drills.

7. S E A R C H I N G O N
L I N E & F R E E
Dogs must be able to search
equally well on leash and off
leash
As we will see, searching on
lead can have benefits for
bridging between finding
hidden suspects with no
equipment and rewarding with
a bite.
Positive control allows me to do
more in training.

8. M U Z Z L E
D E CO N D I T I O N I N G
Muzzle is equipment
Muzzle must be desensitized
completely.
Starts in obedience
Without proper
desensitization the muzzle is
a cue for aggression as much
as a sleeve or a suit.
Dog must have good basic
muzzle fighting skills before
asking for them to be shown
at the end of a search
exercise.

9. D E A D E Q U I P M E N T
N E U T R A L I T Y
Your dog must be able to work
around dead equipment.
First in obedience and during
back-tie sessions when the dog
is first started in training.
Nothing on the ground ever is
of interest to him in bite work.
Then during field bite work
where you have positive
control (sends past dead
equipment).
Then and only then do we
incorporate it during searching

10. SUSPECT ENCOUNTERS

11. S U B J E C T
E N CO U N T E R S :
V I S I B L E D E COYS
The dog must see passivity as
a threat to be successful.
The dog must understand
that standing, seated and
prone passive subjects are
threats
Work to partial visibility of
body parts: arms, legs.
The dog should search with
eyes and nose, not just the
nose.
Strive for balance.

12. S U B J E C T
E N CO U N T E R S :
H I D D E N D E COYS
Equipment & Human
Odor become linked like
plastic bags and drugs.
Typical Solution – Hide
without equipment
(behind doors and in
cages)
Handlers feel good
because it seems more
real.

13. P R O B L E M S W I T H
N OT R E WA R D I N G
A L E R T S
Dogs leave source
Too many “no bites” in a row
lead to extinction burst, then
loss of alert behavior
“If you wouldn’t do it in
detection don’t do it in bite
work”

14. A L E R T S O LU T I O N S
Reward with Civil Aggression which
requires on leash searching. The
shift from prey to defense increases
focus and concern
Use variable reward scheme with
low profile hidden sleeve.
Can bridge the Alert to a grip in
another location by pulling the dog
out of the alert, agitate civilly, decoy
flees to another room where a suit
or hidden sleeve is quickly available.
Extinct response to equipment
using known blank areas staged
with dead equipment.

15. M U Z Z L E
S E A R C H I N G A S A
S O LU T I O N
Is the muzzle equipment?
Will you put in the time to
desensitize?
Must create neutrality to the
muzzle that is so strong the dog
truly ignores it.
Otherwise the muzzle becomes a
cue to aggression just like a
sleeve.
Searching in Muzzle must be
conditioned. It allows for location
of human odor without
associated equipment, and a
rewarding fight (contact)
immediately at the end.

16. M U Z Z L E
S E A R C H I N G
C AU T I O N S
Heat
Reduced duration
Too much muzzle work
degrades targeting
Muzzle fighting must be an
end in itself, not something to
be tolerated until removed for
a bite on equipment.

17. S U S P E C T
E N CO U N T E R S :
CO N C LU S I O N S
Rotate through different
solution strategies
Follow the road map given
here and the dog will learn that
human odor is what he is
looking for, and human odor is
rewarding in a multitude of
different ways.
Come up with your own ideas
to bridge from alerts on human
odor to grips.

18. A D D I T I O N A L
P R O O F I N G
VA R I A B L E S
Vary the buildings and entry
points in which you work a lot.
Vary Height and Depth
Train at night and practice light
and noise discipline
Have your decoys run before
hiding
Desensitize gunfire indoors
Practice emergency recalls
Write training records with
detailed narratives

19. THE SEARCHING

20. D E COY P L AC E M E N T
& R E P E T I T I O N
Hide placement in detection
teaches good efficient search
patterns.
Hide placement in building
searches is critical but often
overlooked.
Set up training scenarios for
multiple entry points on a
decoy hiding in the same odor
hotspot.
Introduce searching in muzzle.
No more one and done!

21. M U LT I P L E
S U S P E C T S &
S E A R C H I N G
Nobody commits a crime alone so
always assume multiple subjects.
The K9 must be able to search and
apprehend, and then be refocused
on searching further.
Many dogs struggle with this
because they do not practice it
regularly. (One and done).
You must make it quickly successful
for the dog to want to continue
when introducing this concept.
Multiple subject exercises like
redirects and multiple directional
work make this easier.

22. D E A D E Q U I P M E N T
D U R I N G T H E
S E A R C H
The dog must be fluent doing
obedience around dead
equipment.
Equipment orientation drills must
have been completed.
Extinct dead equipment
responses by placing them
behind closed doors first so you
can redirect the dog from interest
in them.
Searching on line here is critical.
Discrimination Exercises just like
detection.

23. M O V I N G B E T W E E N
D I S C I P L I N E S :
S C E N A R I O S
Building Search to Tracking
Track ending with a building
search
Article Search after a successful
building or area search
apprehension
Track to a building search to a
continued track.
Decoy neutrality – moving past
agitating decoys to a building
search away from the agitation.
Dogs want to do what’s easiest

24. THE START

25. S TA R T
P R E R E Q U I S I T E S
Back-up neutrality
Bark outs to the dog – dog learns
he activates the process.
Focus forward in buildings and
areas.
Dog learns that cover (e.g.
engine block or door frame) is a
key component of going forward
in area searching or building
searching.
Focus on the dog not the process
(break cover if needed at first to
get the dog performing).

26. H OT S E A R C H E S
Hot starts are “hot” because the
dog see the decoy visually.
Always start the decoy inside the
building and allow the dog to self
discover that his focus, attention,
and barking can activate the man
to move in the building.
Use chase games through rooms
and doorways on slick floors.
Start introducing searching off
the hot stimulation, and make the
searching and suspect
encounters relatively easy at first.

27. WA R M S E A R C H E S
Warm searches bridge the gap
between visual cues of the hot
search, and the complete lack of
decoy cues in cold searches.
Warm searches use the dog’s
short term memory.
Warm searches are gradual, and
require many repetitions.
Warm searches start with a visual
cue and then we break the visual
contact, allow some time to
elapse, and reposition the dog
for a search without another
visual cue.

28. CO L D S E A R C H E S
Build upon the dog’s memory.
Use the same area as the day
before.
Quick early rewards are the key.
Context cues help the dog
understand to go forward and
search, as well as the commands.
There is absolutely no “help”
given. If the dog fails to
understand go back to warm
searches and give it more time.
Help can become an addiction
(decoy attraction, noise) that is
hard to break.

29. S TA R T S
CO N C LU S I O N
Proofing variables include
searching different buildings
Varying insertion points (doors,
windows, crawl spaces, attics)
Do not ask your dog to do on
a deployment something he
hasn’t become fluent in training
with.
Daytime starts, nighttime starts.
Perimeter post to a search.