When a police dog handler has achieved harmony within pack everyone wins including the agency and the stakeholder in which they serve, the community and citizens. A properly trained Police dog team can be worth their weight in gold with saving time, effort and ultimately lives. Training is serious business with long term consequences for many involved, positive or negative. Many handlers will often rank their time with their K-9 partner as the highlite of their career. Only those experiencing and forging this bond through the frontline calls with their K-9 partner can truely understand this unique and powerful bond. This bond remains strong through time.

  This bond begins in training through role change and creating harmony within the pack relationship. Many paths lead to achieving role change and levels of harmony through various interactions, methods and devices. Although the importance of obtaining a dog with good temperment and drive cannot be diminished often too much burden and blame is placed onto the dog when issues appear during the training process. Dogs are washed out and time and money is lost as a result.

  Harmony between handler and dog, within the context of pack, is the drive force which propels the teams true potential forward. To understand pack is to know that true harmony can only be achieved with seeing everything which is occuring within the pack relationship.

  Ultimately when true harmony is taking place between handler and dog, within the context of pack and the roles, everyone wins.


Author Dale McCluskey