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K9 Units in Public Transportation: A Guide for Decision Makers (2002)

Chapter: Appendix F - Sample Selection Tests

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Page 91
Suggested Citation:"Appendix F - Sample Selection Tests." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2002. K9 Units in Public Transportation: A Guide for Decision Makers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24721.
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Page 91
Page 92
Suggested Citation:"Appendix F - Sample Selection Tests." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2002. K9 Units in Public Transportation: A Guide for Decision Makers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24721.
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Page 92
Page 93
Suggested Citation:"Appendix F - Sample Selection Tests." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2002. K9 Units in Public Transportation: A Guide for Decision Makers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24721.
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Page 93
Page 94
Suggested Citation:"Appendix F - Sample Selection Tests." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2002. K9 Units in Public Transportation: A Guide for Decision Makers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24721.
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Page 94

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91 APPENDIX F: SAMPLE SELECTION TESTS Testing should occur in a neutral environment for the dog. A good location is a park or other area with cover. It should be a location unfamiliar to the dog. On arrival, take a few minutes to have the handler walk off and play with the dog. Observe the way the dog reacts to play and to the new environment. Is the dog comfortable and ready to play, or is it concerned about its new surroundings and will not play because it is suspicious? Will the dog explore without its handler? Does it not wish to be away from the handler's support in this new place? Ideally, the dog will be alert and curious, willing to explore its new environment but also checking on the handler. When the handler initiates play, the dog should gladly participate. If other people walk through the area, the dog should be aware of their presence and even wish to investigate. If a stranger walks up to the handler, does the dog come to investigate or does the dog not notice? If the dog comes to the handler while the handler is in conversation with a stranger, what does the dog do? Ideally, the dog should be curious and interested in these events. Warning signs about problem temperament are excessive sharpness in the new environment, unwillingness to play with the handler, unwillingness to explore, or a lack of awareness of humans within the environment. These informal observations are quite important, as they reveal much about the dog's socialization and relationship with the handler (pack and play drives, submissive drive, and rank drive). If this dog is being brokered through an individual other than the handler, many of these observations will tell the evaluator about the dog’s ability to adapt to a new handler. Next, formal testing will begin. It is important that the owner of the dog be informed about the tests. It is also important that the decoy being used be experienced in training all phases of service dog work and have an understanding of how to instantly recover the dog if placed in a situation in which the dog has problems. TEST #1: STAKE OUT Place the dog on a 6- to 8-foot cable on a tree or post. Do not use a solid backstop. Allow the dog to stay on the stake out for: 5-10 minutes alone. Observe its behavior. It should be curious and attentive. After a while, a stranger (decoy) should walk towards the dog making strong eye contact and moving in a oncoming but left to right pattern. Each time the decoy changes direction, he or she may pause and face the dog with additional strong eye contact. The decoy should be carrying something odd, such as a bucket or a leafy tree branch, just to attract attention. The decoy must advance upon the prospect in a zigzag pattern pausing occasionally and making strong direct eye contact with the dog. Observe the dog's reaction as the decoy presses closer and closer in a slow irregular pattern. Does the dog become attentive and alert at first? Does the dog simply ignore the situation? When does the dog show behaviors in an attempt to thwart a threat? Does the dog initiate a challenge? Does the dog show play or submissive behavior solicitations? When does the survival drive manifest, and in

92 what way does it appear? All these observations are taken not as a pass/fail type of test but as information about the temperament of the candidate. Immediately move to test number two. TEST #2: PURSUIT AND SEARCH Immediately after the first test, the dog who is to continue testing shall be removed from the stake out and held by the collar as a decoy in a suit appears at a small wooded area in the distance (100 yards or so). The decoy should be dressed in a protection suit. The decoy shall attract the dog's attention and run for 15-20 yards in the direction of the dog, still attracting attention. The decoy should then run away and out of sight. After about 45 seconds to 1 minute the handler will be instructed to let the dog go. The dog should search either by air scent or ground scent for the decoy. The decoy should be crouched in a hiding position out of sight. The dog should show great intensity to search and be able to locate the decoy with no encouragement or assistance from the handler, who should stay back and not interfere with the dog. Once the decoy is found, the dog should either engage the decoy or bark with great enthusiasm. The dog should not leave the decoy once the decoy is located. Immediately move to test number three. TEST #3: MUZZLE TEST The dog should be placed in a comfortable agitation-style muzzle, and fit and security should be checked. The decoy, no longer in a suit, shall approach the dog with a stick in hand while the handler holds the dog on a short lead (6 feet). The decoy must attract the dog’s attention and, when the dog is alert, attack the handler. The dog should respond by engaging in strong combat (if the dog is concerned about the muzzle, the dog must still engage in combat). The desire to remove the muzzle must not be judged too harshly as long as the dog still shows the desire to engage in combat and pursue. Immediately after the dog begins to show a strong desire to fight, the decoy should flee. As the decoy gets 20-30 paces away, the handler should be instructed to release the dog. Once the dog again makes contact with the decoy, who is trying to elude the dog, the decoy will turn toward the dog briefly and strike the dog once or twice with a flexible stick on a less-sensitive part of the dog’s body. The dog should not be thwarted by these assaults and ideally should show an escalation of combat behaviors. The experienced evaluator will be able to evaluate these behaviors, even in the dog that shows sensitivity to the muzzle and tries to fight to remove the muzzle. This test may be repeated in a suit for the dog who is intensely muzzle sensitive; in this instance, the quality of the grip and purposefulness of the fight must be closely examined. TEST #4: TRACKING TEST Take the dog to a lush field where a person’s passage through the vegetation can readily be seen. One subject should carry some form of discrete protection equipment and cross the field in such a manner as to prevent the dog from approaching from downwind. Since the dog has limited or no previous experience with tracking, the decoy should make a large and intense disturbance by the scuffling of the feet, spitting in the

93 path, and moving slowly through the field as the dog observes from a good distance. In this manner, the decoy leaves an easy scent and visual track that can be followed. The decoy should then continue through the field and out of sight of the dog. The dog should then be escorted from the field, leaving the decoy to continue his or her movement through the field, creating a path in the field of at least 300 yards. After the dog is gone from the field, the decoy should continue moving through the field until he or she has found a suitable hiding place, at which point he or she should lie in the vegetation and attempt to hide. After the decoy is concealed, the dog should be brought back to the field. The handler should then be instructed to leave the dog on lead until they enter the field. Once in the field, instruct the handler to remove the lead and encourage the dog to search briefly. The handler should move to the area in the field at a right angle to the path of the decoy. When the dog reaches the area of the path, the dog should display interest in following the path purely out of curiosity. If the dog does so, the handler should say nothing to distract the dog but merely follow along. Ideally, the dog will devote increasing attention to the path and follow it. Some breaking of attention is acceptable. If the dog does poorly on this test, repeat the test with the handler as the track layer and the evaluator as the handler (in the case of dogs with no formal training in any style of tracking, the evaluator may elect to begin with the handler as the track layer). TEST #5: PLAY TEST Have the handler play tug-of-war with the dog with a rolled-up towel. If the dog plays with the handler, will the dog play with a stranger? Once the dog is enjoying the game, will the dog search for the toy when it is thrown out of sight? How long will the dog search for the missing toy? Will the dog initiate play with the handler or others? TEST #6: GUNFIRE TEST In this test, a .38 caliber handgun or equivalent is used with blanks. The handler is asked to exclude the evaluator and play with the dog somewhere away from the evaluator. Then, the evaluator should approach the handler and the dog while discharging four to six rounds from the handgun slowly. The dog should not shy away or appear spooked by the sound. Barking is acceptable as long as the dog's demeanor shows that it is not barking from fear or survival drives. The dog should be able to play immediately after the gunfire (if the dog stays focused on the evaluator after the gun shots and will not play, have the handler walk away to another location to play). ASSESSMENT OF PERFORMANCE These selection tests must be viewed as an opportunity to investigate the dog’s potential as a candidate service dog. Performance must be carefully weighed against the dog's previous training (if any). In addition, the dog must be at an acceptable level of maturity to undergo these tests. The more immature and/or untrained the dog is, the less intense the examination must be. To assume that an untrained dog can perform at a high level of obedience, tracking, or control defeats the purpose of the tests. An

94 experienced canine evaluator, who can competently identify the impacts that previous training, maturity, and experience should have on a dog’s performance during these tests, is an absolute necessity. Once the dog is accepted for training, continual evaluation of progress will begin. The selection test does not guarantee success. Also, the possibility of discontinuing the work should always be considered for any dramatic problems such as the dog not responding to training or posing safety and performance concerns for critical tasks.

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TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 86: Public Transportation Security, Volume 2: K9 Units in Public Transportation: A Guide for Decision Makers offers information on current K9 deployment practices, K9 program establishment issues, and explosives detection.

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