2026 Classes
PLEASE NOTE. 2026 classes are not determined yet.
We leave this up for reference to inform new interest to see what classes we held in the past.
As of December 2, 2025
Class Details will be added when we have them.
To see class times see our Schedule page .
Quick Links to: K9 Patrol Classes, K9 Explosives Classes, K9 Narcotics Classes, K9 Science and Behavior Classes
K9 Patrol Classes
Patrol K9 Legal Update
I will discuss generally accepted industry standards related to patrol dog apprehensions.
Canine Unit Supervision and Management
Canine Supervisors and Managers are in the best position to prevent many of the issues we face in the K9 discipline and many of today’s supervisors and managers have no K9 experience to build on. Regardless of your experience level with K9s, this seminar will provide you with information you can use to mitigate liability and improve your unit with significant impact in minimal time, regardless of your rank. This course will cover topics such as handler selection, trainer selection, building a culture, and handler development, to name a few.
High Risk Tracking
High risk tracks have killed more officers and canines and the reasons are always the same. This class will discuss these reasons.
The dreaded verbal out and control - Out means Out
How to obtain a reliable verbal using various methods. This includes the proper imprinting of an electronic collar and how to get the collar to be a guiding tool versus a correction tool. We will also discuss ways to build a very stable call off and down in motion. How to make this the dogs idea so they love doing the behavior.
SKIDDS ( Swat Canine Interacting During Deployment)
This class will discuss the deployment of canine teams with Swat and other tactical teams in high risk deployments. The class will focus on slow deliberate searching with the canine and tactical team.
Advanced Muzzle Fighting
Muzzle fighting is vital part of law enforcement K9 training but there is so much more than just rolling around letting the dog nudge you around. This presentation will cover problem solving, tactics, and techniques to really bring your K9 partner to the highest level. Additionally, Ricky discusses proper fit and maintenance of a muzzle, and additional equipment that enhance your K9 partners skills and confidence.
K9 Explosives Classes
The Improvised Explosives Threat
The class will discuss the history of the threat, families of improvised explosive devices, safety, newest materials being employed and canine considerations in improvised explosive responses.
Explosive Detection Dog – Operational Applications & Training Considerations
Through the consideration of operational explosive dog applications; foundational canine training methodology will be discussed in a rationalized sequence. Handler skills and stress exposure training techniques, as well as operational considerations and integration with supporting assets including drones, robots, k9 camera and explosive disposal will be presented.
Explosive detection, from foundation to scenario based training
In this class we will discuss imprinting, initial search training and the importance of systematic searches.
Explosive Detection Team safety from a Bomb Technician Perspective
Unlike most other detection disciplines, the role of the EDC handler is just as important as the canine, or perhaps more so, as he/she should be vigilant for threats the dog may not detect. Learn from a bomb technician what most K9 handlers are not told about being a bomb dog handler, to include safety, tactical, and training considerations. Topics covered will include IED and booby trap awareness, when NOT to deploy a bomb dog, the limitations of a bomb dog, the advantages of integrating into a Joint Hazard Assessment Team (JHAT) and how to best prepare yourself, your team, and your agency for operational success through safe/best practices.
Enhanced Searching Behavior
Enhanced Searching Behavior and the Police Dog Olfactory is a comprehensive course designed to delve into the intricacies of the canine olfactory system and its impact on the hunting and searching behaviors of police dogs. This course equips handlers and trainers with the knowledge and techniques to leverage the olfactory system in optimizing the focus of police dogs on target odors. By minimizing distractibility and false indications, this training fosters the development of reliable, odor-driven police dogs.
Explosives Defined
This training program is designed to provide participants with the knowledge of explosive odor imprinting of detection canines with the correct energetic materials to enhance the effectiveness and capabilities of their canine teams. The training allows the handlers to understand the science involved and the ability to locate target odors during a canine search operation. This program also enhances the canine handler’s knowledge of how to search for and locate secondary devices in the post blast area.
K9 Narcotics Classes
Narcotics K9 Legal Update
Drug Canine Record Keeping & Court Testimony
Testifying in front of the courts can be intimidating and stressful, especially if you’re not prepared. You know how hard you’ve trained with your dog and you’ve done everything right for every case. But are you fully prepared to testify about your training and paint the picture of reliability for the courts? Andrew Weiman is an expert witness with decades of police dog handling and training experience. Join Andrew’s class and listen as he presents the cornerstones of proper canine recordkeeping that help prove your dog’s reliability. Andrew makes clear sense of both the purpose and the content of canine records. Defense attorneys look to discredit you and the dog by testing your basic understanding of canine learning and canine training. Come listen to the advice of an expert and take the power of knowledge as a shield of armor for every drug dog case you’re a part of. Ther’s many angles of attack coming against you in the courtroom by defense attorneys, don’t go in unprepared and unaware. Let Andrew Weiman’s decades of experience take your courtroom battle to a higher level.
Narcotics Interdiction
The instructional goal of this course is to train uniformed police officers on how to identify those that may be involved in criminal activity while they are conducting patrol duties. The training will focus on identifying criminal indicators while conducting the roadside interview and basic concealment techniques used to conceal illegal contraband and currency.
Parcel and Airport Interdiction
Parcels containing narcotics and how they are packaged, Profiling Parcels, K9 usage and techniques, Seizing Parcels and investigative techniques and narcotics interdiction techniques for airports.
Fentanyl and Obedience to Odor
In my class will discuss how we started our fentanyl program and what has worked for us, first with imprinting and certification, and filing charges with local prosecutors as well as federal prosecutors. I will go over the safety measures taken in training, certification and on k9 deployments. That Fentanyl is a legal substance; however ,you are not going to find anyone transporting fentanyl patches (20-50 micro grams), without that person saying that they are. How we educate our prosecutors on those differences. The fact that dealers are transporting powder or pill forms and the overdoses occurring because of the careless mixtures. We will review homicide cases on OD deaths caused by dealers of fentanyl. Many of our stops and k9 deployments are on those traffickers (I will have video presentations from those stops). The rise in fentanyl uses and abuse has escalated for years and having k9 teams trained and certified on the odor of fentanyl has been pivotal in combating the dealing and trafficking of fentanyl products.
Obeidience To Odor
This class will take handlers deeper into why detection dogs do what they do. We will delve into what “drives” are and how they are utilized. The term obedient to odor refers to the dog understanding that odor drives the reward, not the handler. This fast pace class will cover everything from odor imprintation, to reward, to search patterns and the why’s behind each of these components of detection dog training. Not only is this class highly entertaining, but most of all, it is highly informative.
K9 Science and Behavior Classes
Reinforcement Strategies for the Detection Canine
This module of instruction will challenge the assumptions of traditional reward applications used in detection canine training. Often reinforcement is considered as a 1-dimensional application that increases or maintains behavior when the canine performs correctly. This is typically done by applying an “all dog” approach rather than assessing the single dog in front of you. However, advancements in behavior analysis provides us a more comprehensive toolbox from which to draw. By understanding the behavioral attributes of what makes something valuable as a reinforcer and learning how to evaluate particular components that drive behavior and motivation, we are able to keep the dog in its “thinking brain” rather than spinning out of control. There are many strategies that can be used to maximize performance while training new behaviors and maintaining old behaviors. This training will outline the various reinforcement strategies that can be added to our reward arsenal, and it will also highlight when to use them appropriately to maximize their benefit and when too much of a good thing is tanking your training.
At the completion of this training you will understand:
- How to evaluate the dog in front of you to determine which reward options will be most effective
- How to make adjustments to accommodate all levels of motivation
- How to regulate motivation to prevent overstimulation
- How to oscillate between different reward options to achieve different objectives in training or deployment scenarios.
Ask a Scientist – Translating Science into Operation
Practical, Science-backed Tactics for Producing Operationally Relevant Detection Dogs
While detection canines have the potential to provide unmatched capability in terms of speed, mobility, selectivity, and sensitivity, common training pitfalls and missteps can have long-lasting detrimental effects on their realized abilities. Geared towards explosives detection, but helpful to all disciplines, this classroom instruction aims to share longstanding and novel best practices to use to achieve a relevant, robust detection capability. One area of emphasis will be the need to pursue realism and diversity in our training. In this context, much of the focus is on the concentration of odor that is anticipated to result from authentic hides/devices. Scenario and training aid parameters that can be manipulated for our benefit are discussed. Analytical results from smokeless powder configurations are provided. Other topics to be covered include the not-so-obvious benefits of the use of non-targets in detection exercises and problematic “cheats” that canines use to their advantage in training and testing.
Digitizing the Canine Nose: Revolutionizing Scent Detection with Neural Technology
Canaery is developing the first nose-computer interface to directly read olfactory neural activity, convert it into digital signals, and decode odorants in real-time. By leveraging the unmatched sensitivity and selectivity of mammalian olfaction, this technology enables rapid, adaptable detection of a broad range of chemical threats, from explosives to narcotics and beyond. We are currently transitioning this breakthrough technology from rodents to canines, combining the working dog’s unmatched mobility and operational experience with digital detection capabilities. This approach strengthens protection for both K9s and their handlers by providing early warning of threats, auditable digital records, and far more effective training as rewards can be delivered only when the animal encounters the intended odor, removing ambiguity. This presentation will introduce the scientific principles behind the technology, highlight advances in neural interface design and machine learning that make real-time classification possible, and explore how these tools can enhance working dog operations in the future.
Working Dog Imaging (Pre Purchase) and Comprehensive Medical Exam
Dogs and Sensors: How New K9 Science and Standards Will Impact You!!
This talk will explain how new scientific discoveries are dispelling common K9 odor myths and how new national standards incorporating these discoveries will impact detection teams particularly when you are asked to testify in the courtroom including:
- The Ability of dogs to differentiate between subtle differences in target odors including Hemp versus marijuana odors and the impact of marijuana training aids used including pseudo scents.
- The ability of dogs to be trained to locate mass storage devices and the unique volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in cellular phones, hard drives, CDs, thumb drives, SIM cards and electronic controls. The development of canine detection calibrants and the potential impact on improving the reliability of detection teams.
- How national standardization efforts over 20 years have culminated in approved Standards. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for Detector Dogs through the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS- ASB) is disseminating national standards.
- These standards began in SWGDOG best practice guidelines starting in 2004, through OSAC Dogs & Sensors guidance documents which began in 2014.
- There are currently dozens of approved and under development national standards and this talk will show how the attendees can get involved through the International Commission on Detector Dogs (ICODD). Dr. Furton is the Director of ICODD and Dr. Frank is the Coordinator of ICODD.