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Dog Training Out Of Real Conditions Decreases Dog's Performance Quality
Saturday 09 January 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, January 9 (TASR) - The stop of police dog training aimed at search for explosives in realistic conditions will have a negative impact on the quality of the service dogs, which are used for airport security, Samuel Hruskovic from Rescue Team Slovakia in Varin (Zilina region) told TASR on Saturday.
"I know police dog handlers and the level of their professionalism, as well as the quality of their dogs. The methods of dog training in Slovakia are on a world-class level, which can be proved not only in police services, but also in rescue operations. For example, police dog handlers participated on an international rescue mission in Iran, hit by devastating earthquake. It takes minimum of two years to train a dog that can be used in action, and such dog has to be trained continuously," pointed out Hruskovic, adding that only real action can show mistakes, which are being eliminated afterwards.
Hruskovic also thinks that the police dog handler, who made a mistake during a security training on Poprad (Presov region) airport, which resulted in a scandal with explosives, should remain in his post.
[Ninety grams of explosive were found in the luggage of a Slovak citizen who boarded a plane in Poprad (Presov region) to Ireland on Saturday, January 2. Police at the airport hid samples of explosives in the luggage of several passengers as part of an operation aimed at testing the airport's security procedures. However, 90 grams of the substance were taken on the plane undetected. - ed. note].
"The dog has found the explosive, the dog handler gave him his treat and has forgotten the explosive. The most important factors in such dog training are the realistic conditions and the reward. The dog handler has to put his whole heart into rewarding the dog, it has to be honest, not acted. The dog can feel it and it is only the animal's joy from the reward that motivates it to carry out the tasks requested by the dog handler," explained Hruskovic, concluding that the dog handler's failure was not professional, but human.
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