Canine training

Canine is a word that generally refers to any member of the dog family Canidae. Thus canine training is simply another term for dog training. The term canine was initially used by the police and military, although in typical military style, it was abbreviated to K9, a homophone for the word canine. In the police and military their dog units are still commonly known as K9 units. In this context the terms canine dog training, canine obedience training and canine training academy would all refer to dog training that specialises in training dogs for police work.

If one however does a search on the internet for any of the terms above, including canine training courses, it becomes clear that the terms K9, canine and dog or puppy are all intermingled as being just another term for the word dog. Many dog training schools have adopted the terms K9 and canine as part of their name, possibly leading to the assumption that they do dog training for the police and / or military, and are therefore operating at a higher level of expertise and professionalism. There are in fact even naming conventions that are used that are grammatically incorrect, for instance canine dog training or K9 dog training. This seems to indicate that K9 is a specific type of training program for dogs, although further investigation shows this not to be the case.

When looking at the detail of services offered under the names K9 or canine however, it often becomes clear that these dog training institutions have no relationship with the police or military whatsoever. As it is, both the police and military generally have their own canine training units, as this is a highly specialised field. Having said that, there are external dog training schools that do specialise in providing dogs and training to the police, military and security companies with their canine security training programs. These specialised schools however very rarely cater to the general public for their dog training requirements.

Apart from the normal housebreaking and general obedience training dogs do, police dogs specialise in a number of areas where they are actually classified as working dogs. The most commonly known role is that of public order enforcement where the dogs are used to chase and hold suspect. Another role performed by police dogs is that of search and rescue. These dogs are used to locate suspects or find missing persons or objects.

Due to the amazing sensitivity of dog’s sense of smell, another huge role that police dogs are trained for in a K9 training school is one of detection. This could include bombs and explosives, drugs and even decomposing bodies. It is interesting to note that various breeds are used for the various functions. The selection of specific breed for specific roles is normally based on ability as well as availability.

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1. K9 training
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