Dulles Airport K-9 in training (Mali) attacks child - Page 9

Jim. Let it go. Ignore. Best defense. I do not dislike MagyMay but I was taken aback by her last statement.
Hans

gsdsch3v

The dog was not doing detection. He was just standing there with his handler..Thus the muzzle at that time would be appropriate.
Please read the article before you make comments.

I am done here.
Prager Hans


I did read the article which stated that they were there to do detection training.  Just because the dog was not actively sniffing in the opinion of the author does not mean that they were not training.  Why else would they have been in the scenario.  Unless you get a copy of the official review you will never know what went on or what the set up was.  They certainly aren't going to tell the press much with a good chance for litigation on the table. 

If the dog is not "actively sniffing" then he should have muzzle if he is in the crowd of people.
Prager Hans

I respect Slam's opinion. Thousands of K9 handlers would agree with him ,but thousands of K9 units here in USA and  all over the world would think otherwise. It is not as impractical as it seems.Police dogs in Czech
Prager Hans 

All I can attest to is what I have seen.  Neither of my K9 trainer friends have EVER helicoptered or hung a dog that wouldn't out.  They went back to the basics and worked back up to biting (in many cases, it is a handler issue, not working the basics on his/her off time with the dog, only working during class).  My one friend specializes in K9s with issues and has used patience and an incredible insight into doggie mind set.  She is very successful and has NEVER resorted to violence.  A firm correction yes, never violence.  She earns their trust and respect, she is a wonder to watch and learn from.

My friend is Native American and has threatened to bring back scalping (that was taught to Native Americans) if she ever caught a handler using violence, if they choose to shave their head, well she will scalp what isn't shaved.

First I wanna say, Jim I hope you feel better soon. I love ya man, no matter what Maggie says. I wish more Depts. were run like yours. Your a good guy with a good heart, a good handler with a good dog. Keep posting the good stuff.

I said to my wife, honey I think the world maybe round not flat, she said
thats ridiculous everyone know it's flat.
I think when every body says whats on there mind you have a better chance
at getting to the true. But that may be ridiculous.

Hans, I like that muzzle! I know for a certainty that in the old DDR that any service / police or SchH dogs in public had to wear a muzzle, precisely for this reason. You can never 100% be certain of what a dog will do, but you can abolutely never predict what people will do. People do crazy stuff! Freaking out around a dog is crazy, but people do it. Sometimes, occasionally, someone will provoke a dog (usually a small one), actually hoping that it will bite them, so that they can make some money from a lawsuit. It's just best to muzzle a working dog in public, when it is not on active deployment. Even if a dog IS a good dog and deployed to pursue a bad guy in a crowd, there is always a chance that someone will step into it's path, or start running and become the target. Crowded places are not good places to use dogs that do pursuit and bitework. But ANY dog in the public should really be wearing some kind of a muzzle to minimize risk of injury and lawsuits, except perhaps the rare exception, a dog known to be absolutely stable and reliable with people, and used in a public relations capacity. 
To tell you the truth, even those open wire muzzles are possible to get a finger into, or a tooth out of. I've seen a dog who knew how to get a tooth out of such a muzzle and hook onto some skin to tear. But, it's better than nothing at all. Muzzles that are more closed are absolutely unsafe for the dog, and can cause the dog to overheat and die.
I don't necessarily think that an aggressive dog is a bad dog. Absolutely, there is a purpose for these dogs in the world, and a need. But I think that this was not the place to put a (probably) high-drive dual purpose dog, still in training. Most of the time, when dogs get into trouble, it's human error and mismanagement.