Police Service Dogs Herc (pictured) and Hawk conducted training on Regional District buses on Wednesday, Nov 20. (RDN)

By Alex Rawnsley

GOOD DOGS

‘Absolutely fantastic resources for us:’ police service dogs fine tune training

Nov 23, 2019 | 4:02 AM

NANAIMO — A pair of RCMP police service dogs (PSD) had the opportunity to learn some new tricks while training this week.

PSD’s Herc, Hawk and their handlers staged a training session at the Regional District’s Nanaimo bus depot on Wednesday, Nov. 20. Various items were hidden in an empty bus with the dogs tasked with locating the items for their handlers.

It provided the dogs with experience in an unfamiliar environment.

“With lost items or drugs, their noses are invaluable in being able to locate those things,” Sgt. Jon Stuart said. “It’s a tool we have within our tool belt and we have nothing but the utmost respect for the dogs, the dog handlers and the job they do.”

The validation training is part of continued efforts to offer diverse challenges, testing and improving the abilities of an essential police resource.

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Police service dogs are routinely deployed to help with missing persons, drug searches and explosive detection.

“When you’re going into thick brush and all you have is a flashlight, we as humans can’t follow tracks,” Stuart said. “The dogs are able to track and locate the people we want to locate and those people we want to locate.”

If members of the public encounter a police service dog on the job, Stuart suggests to stay still.

“The dogs are trained to key into people running. The simplest thing to do is stay where you are and observe what’s happening.”

alex.rawnsley@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alexrawnsley