A common response to the bark and hold in police work is that it is "Schutzhund bullshit." This article will demonstrate the practical aspects of this training technique. Please read it and make your own judgment. This article is intended to dispel myths and misconceptions regarding the practical application of the find and bark and in no way is it designed to slight or degrade other viable and proven policies and techniques.

Not deadly force

Use of the K-9 is not deadly force. There are several appellate court decisions regarding the use of police dogs, however, the courts have not directly ruled on the issue of find and bark versus find and bite as they relate to the issue of use of force in the apprehension of criminals. Simply stated, proper use of a police K-9 is not deadly force and can be compared to other non-lethal apprehension techniques.

The following is an example of the average search and apprehension wherein the find and bark was deployed. The dog in this incident was supplied by our training center and trained to this police department's particular policies. These policies were the opposite of find and bark. During the dog's first year of duty, he located a great number of suspects with numerous apprehensions resulting in bites. When the handler arrived at our facility for his yearly in-service training, he expressed a desire to train his dog in the find and bark. The training was completed without complication, and the handler and dog returned to their city.

Three weeks later, we received a phone call from the excited handler regarding a recent apprehension. He had conducted a K-9 search for a suspect wanted for the theft of a vehicle. The suspect had led pursuing officers in a vehicle pursuit to a heavily wooded area. The suspect then fled the vehicle on foot and ran into the woods in an attempt to elude the officers. The K-9 conducted a systematic search of the area off-leash, working approximately 90 feet in front of the handler. At one point, the dog picked up the suspects air scent and went out of the handler's view. After a few moments, the handler heard the dog barking. The handler was able to utilize caution and proper tactics while locating the dog and suspect by the bark. The handler observed the dog in a down position (as trained), barking at a very scared and immobile 14year-old.

You never know

This incident is an excellent example of ability, control and tactics. Although it is to some, a routine apprehension, the point to be made is that in all actuality we never know what lies at the end of the search. We must conduct each search as if it were for an armed murderer.

Taking an objective view of this incident, how many juveniles would be charged with a felony for stealing a car and ditching it and running away? The juvenile was absolutely passive, offering no resistance to the K-9 or handler. A strong argument that a serious bite was unnecessary in this situation could be made. Instead, the job was accomplished using the K-9 in a manner which would probably never be questioned.

This incident and others like it allow the handler to demonstrate this, his use of the K-9 is definitely appropriate and conservative. All this from a dog which is high in drive and very capable of successfully apprehending a resisting suspect. If this dog injures a suspect in the future, the incidents wherein the K-9 has performed the bark and hold will lend great substance to the argument that the K-9 performed appropriately when the decision to be used by the handler was made.

The bottom line in this example is civil liability -- a growing concern of the public, politicians, administrators, and (as a result), street officers. If the question were simply civil liability, then we would surely go to "biteless" police dogs. It's not inconceivable that we could train the dog to bark in an obedience exercise when it locates a hidden person. Actually, this would be a very easy task, but there is much more to this problem than just the public's rights.

Officer Safety

We have the original problem still at hand. There are bad people out there committing crimes who would also injure or kill a police officer. A properly trained K-9 can search a building, track, area search and alert the handler to the presence of hidden suspects, which adds to officer’s safety.

Since officer safety is a constant concern, here is where we will focus. First, most police dogs which have been killed in the line of duty, die while biting a suspect. Secondly, the primary job of the police dog is to determine the location of a suspect. Here we define "location" as barking in the scent cone. Third, control of the K-9 contributes to handler’s safety as well as to the safety of the general public and fellow officers. In the open field, the police K-9 will often be trained to circle and bark (we feel that this is easier for the dog to perform since he has something to do in the face of the man other than bite). In a situation where the police K-9 cannot circle and bark, he is then trained to a position. The most stable position in our experience is a down and bark. The result of this training is a dog who, in the presence of a suspect, is immediately set into his fight drive. This produces the very desirable effect of a dog who barks in the scent cone and is stable there. We can decrease the dogs hunting behavior after the dog locates the suspect. This procedure eliminates the dog leaving the hidden suspect to find another way to get to the suspect in order to bite him, thus not giving the handler a clear indication of the suspect's location. Barking in the scent cone gives the handler clear indication of a suspect's location, even if the dog is moving ahead of the handler. The advantage of this behavior is, again, officer safety.

Sniffs or bites

Often, when officers talk about their dogs trained to find and bite, we hear certain responses repeatedly.

One, when a dog finds a suspect and approaches, but the suspect is passive, the dog:

1. Sniffs him and waits to see if the suspect starts a fight;
2. Sniffs him and leaves;
3. Barely bites him, not inflicting anything more than a bruise;
4. Does a bark and hold without being taught; or
5. The dog carries a fight to the man, hurting him enough to make him fight back or at least yell and move because of the pain.

The first three are obviously unacceptable and could result in injury or death to a K-9 handler or backup officer. The fourth raises some of the same questions about the suitability of the dog for the work, or about the training of the dog. The latter behavior suggests that the dog was well trained in passive biting or simply is one of the few dogs which is already very motivated by the introduction of a suspect into his fight drive, or suggests the animal is an experienced dog who has been "trained" this way by experiences occurring on the street. Proper canine selection and training of the police bark and hold result in aggressive barking at a passive suspect, a canine which will apprehend a fleeing or resisting suspect. The properly trained police K-9 will bite on command from the bark and hold position if commanded to do so, as well.

Under better control

It is our observation that a K-9 with an intact bark and hold is under greater control than many find and bite dogs. There may be many reasons for this. Since the bark and hold takes greater time to train initially as well as in maintenance work, it probably results in overall higher quality training with an emphasis on control. The greater control the K-9 has, the greater the officer’s safety. This brings us to an important point and the largest argument against the bark and hold methodology.

Initial training and the maintenance training of a bark and hold K-9 is more difficult and more time consuming than the find and bite K-9. Unfortunately, quite often the K-9 unit trainer and handler do not know how to teach the bark and hold and its related maintenance work, not to mention problem solving. Yet, like all other areas of police work which are becoming more technical, education is available.

If you are not familiar with the bark and hold in police work, you should give consideration to its use. Given a little experience with it, you may also find, as we did, that it offers many positive aspects to the overall use of the street police dog.

This article was reprinted with permission of
Dog Sports Magazine
www.dogsports.com

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