Your Southern Police canine will be trained for on- and off-lead obedience and control, including hand commands. During the course of training, the canine will be in the following:
- Agility, enabling him to surmount various obstacles such as walls, ditches, fences and other real-life settings.
- Evidence search to locate various items of lost and stolen property, weapons and evidence of a crime.
- Area search, on- and off-lead, in restrictive areas for presence of humans.
- Search indoors or covered structures for presence of humans.
- Enter and exit vehicles in various ways.
- React to situations and commands in relation to these situations.
- Tracking – following the path of a human on foot on varying terrains and conditions.
- Protect his handler and himself from physical threat.
- Apprehend and release on command.
- Recall from pursuit on command.
- Guard and escort prisoners.
Handlers will be well-versed in canine safety and healthcare by a licensed veterinarian, as well as legal updates and considerations. Handlers will also be subjected to numerous survival techniques.
The handler will be required to obtain an 80% proficiency in practical examination and an 80% proficiency in a written examination to receive certification from Southern Police Canine.
This course of instruction is four weeks (260 hours).