Page 7 - DATR Open Day 2023

be selected from a breed whose visual stature and size alone may be enough to deter any would be intruders. Typically,
these breeds will be either the German Shepherd Dog (GSD) or Belgian Malinois. The PROTECTION MWDs primary role is
to detect any unauthorised personnel in an access-controlled area and then indicate their presence to the handler. Once located and,
if necessary, the handler may be authorised to release the PROTECTION MWD in order to apprehend the intruder. The MWD will chase and detain an intruder by biting and holding them until issued the commanded to “Leave” by the handler. During the training the trainer will employ the help of a Practical Training Assistant to help develop the bite. The technical ability required to train this sequence of behaviours, with the desired speed and purpose, involves a high degree of skill and courage to be able to assist in the dog’s development whilst avoiding injury.
The DETECTION MWDs primary role is to detect the presence of a target scent on which it has been trained and then indicate to its handler. This requires a highly developed sense of smell, focused mind and a drive and willingness to work. DETECTION MWDs can be trained to detect a number of different substances, but a the DATR currently
the focus is on either narcotics or weapons and explosives. There are many different disciplines of work within DETECT capacity and every precaution is taken to carefully select the correct breed for the right job. Predominantly, the breeds of dog selected for DETECTION come from a gun dog background (although
this is not always the case)
as these have a proven track
record. However, the Belgian
Malinois breed does in fact also make
an extremely good and reliable DETECTION dog, so much so that because of their ability to endure certain pressures and challenges are currently the breed selected for the High Assurance Search Dog (HAS).
All the MWDs at the DATR are trained using only positive reinforcement-based training techniques, which are all based on the theory of Operant conditioning. In essence, a dog that receives a reward at the right time for offering a desired behavioural response,
is a dog that is more likely to understand that it has done a good job and is then also more likely to offer that desired behavioural response again in the future. It really wants to do the job! The keystone to any successful training is of course a strong relationship between dog and trainer. This does not always come easily and may take time, yet from this comes the necessary mutual trust and respect that will assist throughout the dogs training at the DATR.
A selection of the dogs used by Defence
will be on display today and you are invited to come along and see them in action, we hope you enjoy what you see and get an insight into what dog teams do and see how MWDs are trained at CTS. There will be an opportunity to see a selection of kennels and the equipment dog teams deploy with to accommodate their MWD and some
of the equipment used in training and on operations.
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