Canine selection is selecting our top choices much as an NFL team would select their top choices. We base our choices on the need for our drug detection, explosives detection, tracking, patrol, personal protection and civilian canine programs. These canines must meet the needs of our our standards in order to reach the levels we need in training. Over the years, we have developed a successful canine testing framework that fits us well. With a less than 1% error rate, I think the process speaks for itself. This process is as much a science as it is an art. The process is simple, but I feel the real key lies in us personally testing and selecting each of our canines, never brokering a canine.
In a nutshell, our process really only takes three steps after a prospect is presented to us, but I think it is only right to first tell you how we obtain our prospects. In the early years, we made many calls, made contacts wherever we could, and traveled a great deal just trying to find good prospects. That has changed over the years, with leads contacting us and our traveling reduced to testing specific prospects.
This developed framework for Custom Canine Unlimited canine testing is as much a science as it is an art. Don’t take me wrong when I say this. When I see “testers” show up to our facility with a check sheet and numbering system I chuckle a bit inside. Not saying this is wrong, but I do believe this type of system puts a tester in a box. Unfortunately, I have yet to be able to put any of our programs in a box…we are dealing with canines!!! We have had canines that did not test very well, but we saw something with the canine we liked so we took them. On the flip side, we had canines test very well, but there was just something that didn’t sit right with us so we passed on them. At the end of the day, a tester who tests and then selects a canine is essentially saying that they can train that canine to a level that is acceptable within our program requirements.
Having experienced trainers selecting canines they feel they can train provides a level of accountability, removes the need to purchase canines that are not in the best interests of our clients, and affords us the opportunity to use the skills of our trainers to the fullest. Rather than brokering canines from someone that only has their pocket’s best interest in mind.
To here all this is one thing, but to see how we do it is another. This framework is the true foundation of our programs. It will take you straight to our core. The consistency, the reliability, the pure heart of how we ultimately reach the levels of training we do with almost cookie cutter results is contained within our Canine Selection Framework. I really think is a great asset to any trainers training abilities. Break out of the box.
Click below to have our testing framework delivered right to your inbox.
