1-Year with K-9 Pedro

Typically with our company, yes Prior military or LE K9 is required -I on the other hand got lucky and worked my butt off with the company, also as an FTO. We have over 6,000 officers across the country....only 7 of us are K9. When the Chicago spot opened and bc of my work ethic my previous director of security gave me a great recommendation but also my k9 position was a "test" of taking someone (promoting from within) and training them to be the type of handler we need bc w/ prior K9 Handler experience, sometimes there are bad habits that are hard to break. Pedro WAS a single purpose dog, but I (with the assistance of my supervisor) did all the training to get him certifed duel-purpose (detection & patrol). Again, its all about how much work you put into it... At the K9 National Olympics, after only being a team for 8mths we finished 12th.... my fellow handlers (who have had their dogs for years) finished 9th, 21st, 29th, 31st, and 33rd. There's nothing special about Pedro, we just train every day to keep him sharp because I hope that never in my career we come across something, but I train because it essentially is my life on the line. (We have also done sweeps/protection for elected officals and International Dignataries)

Yes, the dog does 90% of the work- my job is to read the body languauge (some times VERY suttle) of a dog and every dog is different. It's also to build a bond with that dog, I fully trust my K9 w/ my life and quite honestly we look for items that will kill us and others everyday. If a narc dog misses something, so what someone makes a buck and gets high.... If I miss something...Im dead if not other people as well. It's also putting in all the effort to train and TEACH the dog how to search properly. I can hide a 9mm bullet on a truck, or in a box in a warehouse and Pedro can/will find it
 
DB9181 said:
Typically with our company, yes Prior military or LE K9 is required -I on the other hand got lucky and worked my butt off with the company, also as an FTO. We have over 6,000 officers across the country....only 7 of us are K9. When the Chicago spot opened and bc of my work ethic my previous director of security gave me a great recommendation but also my k9 position was a "test" of taking someone (promoting from within) and training them to be the type of handler we need bc w/ prior K9 Handler experience, sometimes there are bad habits that are hard to break. Pedro WAS a single purpose dog, but I (with the assistance of my supervisor) did all the training to get him certifed duel-purpose (detection & patrol). Again, its all about how much work you put into it... At the K9 National Olympics, after only being a team for 8mths we finished 12th.... my fellow handlers (who have had their dogs for years) finished 9th, 21st, 29th, 31st, and 33rd. There's nothing special about Pedro, we just train every day to keep him sharp because I hope that never in my career we come across something, but I train because it essentially is my life on the line. (We have also done sweeps/protection for elected officals and International Dignataries)

Yes, the dog does 90% of the work- my job is to read the body languauge (some times VERY suttle) of a dog and every dog is different. It's also to build a bond with that dog, I fully trust my K9 w/ my life and quite honestly we look for items that will kill us and others everyday. If a narc dog misses something, so what someone makes a buck and gets high.... If I miss something...Im dead if not other people as well. It's also putting in all the effort to train and TEACH the dog how to search properly. I can hide a 9mm bullet on a truck, or in a box in a warehouse and Pedro can/will find it
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Man I should leave CPD! Lol if I could get paid what I get paid here... I'd be gone! CPD too much politics. There is a female copper who has been training K9 dogs nationally for years... And can't get in K9 bc she's not connected. It is a specialized unit where a "test" needs to be taken. You can't take the test until u have x amount of years on the job, then when u take test... If u pass u get put on "list" where 75-80% never get called to become handlers.

Oh and I know I mentioned narcotics dogs, and I'm sure u know some are cross trained for bomb/explosive detection. But again. Most are undertrained. I wouldn't trust them with my fishes lives! Lol .. i gave up callinh for dogs after they couldnt find a murder weapon in an open field (3 dogs) but a copper found it in 5 min.... in the dark. just poor training.

maybe one day when I'm in area of ur work.. I'll send u a msg Dan to meet up
 
Geno, Pedro will be at the BBQ tomorrow!

Jorge, yes CPD is 99% politics and that why i probably will choose to never work there. I will eventually move over to the sworn side. But yes, everyone wants the K9 spot bc of the perks - take-home car, 'training days' overtime, etc. But its not about that -Im on salary and get pay ZERO extra to train, yet i still put in 50-60+ hrs a week. K9 is a lifestyle and I'd like to be known for doing my job well and being counted on - not a shlum.

Yeah your welcome to swing by, but you gotta come underground - lower wacker lol thats where my office is (the dog) and alot easier for me to pop out - If you come in the main lobby I prob wont beable to sneek up, I'd say most of the employees (outside of security) dont even know they have K9 here.
 
DB9181 said:
Geno, Pedro will be at the BBQ tomorrow!

Jorge, yes CPD is 99% politics and that why i probably will choose to never work there. I will eventually move over to the sworn side. But yes, everyone wants the K9 spot bc of the perks - take-home car, 'training days' overtime, etc. But its not about that -Im on salary and get pay ZERO extra to train, yet i still put in 50-60+ hrs a week. K9 is a lifestyle and I'd like to be known for doing my job well and being counted on - not a shlum.

Yeah your welcome to swing by, but you gotta come underground - lower wacker lol thats where my office is (the dog) and alot easier for me to pop out - If you come in the main lobby I prob wont beable to sneek up, I'd say most of the employees (outside of security) dont even know they have K9 here.
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Quite the gig you got there, very jealous! Keep doing what you're doing. Looking forward to meeting you and Pedro at the bbq tomorrow.
 
DB9181 said:
Geno, Pedro will be at the BBQ tomorrow!

Jorge, yes CPD is 99% politics and that why i probably will choose to never work there. I will eventually move over to the sworn side. But yes, everyone wants the K9 spot bc of the perks - take-home car, 'training days' overtime, etc. But its not about that -Im on salary and get pay ZERO extra to train, yet i still put in 50-60+ hrs a week. K9 is a lifestyle and I'd like to be known for doing my job well and being counted on - not a shlum.

Yeah your welcome to swing by, but you gotta come underground - lower wacker lol thats where my office is (the dog) and alot easier for me to pop out - If you come in the main lobby I prob wont beable to sneek up, I'd say most of the employees (outside of security) dont even know they have K9 here.
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For sure... I know U don't care about take home car... Lol but gotta love it. Love mine! =)
 
Rosko its the same in cook county all politics. Is who u know not what u know. Don't even have to pass the physical test while I did n didn't make it lol.
 
hey is it hard to train a boxer to do that stuff. im starting to train my 15 week old boxer to retrieve ducks after there shot.
Any tips man i would love to keep training her pups to do this.
 
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