Page 24 - Chiron Spring 2018

I was delighted to be selected for the Military Working Dog Trainers Qualification (MWDTQ) to advance my skills and knowledge, and to prepare me for training Military Working Dogs (MWDs) at the Defence Animal Training Regiment. On the MWDTQ we are required to train Protection, Police and Arms Explosive Search (AES) MWDs within six months, covering various training techniques. In addition we are taught the importance of the care and welfare required, to maintain MWDs Operational effectiveness.
We were issued our Police and Protection MWDs, via names out of a hat (some got lucky) and introduced to our instructors. The first couple of weeks was the theory stage which contained various lessons in the classroom with practical demonstration/ videos, whilst we built relationship with our MWDs. One of the lessons was learning marker and clicker training, which I particularly enjoyed.
Going to different training areas, during the course helps the MWDs' environmental training. These areas have many different distractions, which ensure that all MWDs are environmentally sound; it also gives us a broader knowledge and understanding for training dogs on the various sections. We went away for a week to RAF Leeming, giving us more time for dog training. There was a huge training area which aided us in tracking and building search particularly. Another area was an old barracks at Ripon which was again used for building search. We are due to go to RAF Leeming again later in course, with our AES MWDs, where we are able to put them through their paces, before hopefully passing them out a, week later.
All of us on course have now passed out a Police or Protection Dog, some of us have been lucky to have done both. This new found knowledge will be invaluable for training MWDs at DATR. We now have a clear idea of what is expected and to what standard each discipline is required.
The course has also seen us go on several days out. Firstly we visited Hearing Dogs for the Deaf in East Yorkshire. Their dogs are kennelled in pairs, to keep them as quiet and peaceful as possible, with kennel enrichment. We also got a chance to see their training houses which looked state of the art. They tend to use clicker training, teaching their dogs to touch their leg and run to an appliance which is making a noise, all very clever. They also gave us a presentation on their training techniques as well.
Another venue we went to was Ilford, where a charity event was set up for several bite sport disciplines; IPO, Mondeo, KNPV and civilian security. It was interesting to watch a vast array of dog breeds from the very well trained to those which had a mind of their own. There were many different disciplines to try out, in each sport, the main one being the confidence test. Also interesting was the excellent standard of the Decoy (Practical Training Assistants) taking the bites. I have thoroughly enjoyed the days out and look forward to going to Crufts later in the course.
In conclusion I have learnt a lot from our instructors who have put a lot of time and effort into helping us through the course.
They all have many different ideas which we have applied to training our dogs. I have also learnt a lot from the diverse dogs we have trained on the course. I am not looking forward to the exams and the Oral Board on the last few weeks of the course, but will be revising hard for them, as I am looking forward to training MWDs at the DATR. I would greatly recommend this course to future soldiers, as it will develop them as dog trainers and when returning to 1MWD Regt, enable them to progress and maintain their Operational MWD.
22
CHIRON CALLING
Dog Trainer Qualification Course
By LCpl Flannigan
A HANDY EDUCATIONAL GUIDE FOR SERVICE PERSONNEL AND THEIR FAMILIES
Educate includes information from nursery and pre-school to university and educational holidays; available to you in print and online.
To receive copies or a link to an online version contact:
jodie@crestpublications.com / 01536 317000
educate
www.educate-military.co.uk
Welcome to your handy guide covering all types of schooling, from pre-school to adult education and eveything inbetween.
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subject to discuss with your
Although your child might have little interest in social media, online gaming
can lead to talking to strangers online. If possible, disconnect your child’s games console from the internet so that they cannot play with people they do not know.
children, but online safety is essential in this technology driven era. When discussing online safety, you should aim to inform your children rather than scare them with stories we hear in the press. A good place to start
is to ask them which social networks they use/would like to use and if they know how to make their profiles private. It is important to ensure that your child’s social profiles are private so that strangers cannot see pictures of them or what they post about. Most social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Tumblr have an age restriction in place so your child must be at least 13 to join.
A lot of information is requested on sites such as Facebook and they ask for details such as your hometown, school, mobile number, Birthday, nicknames and films/tv series that you want to watch. Filling out this information is not essential so try to discourage your children from filling this out as it makes it easier for someone to create a fake account with, what seems like, the same things in common.
You should also make certain that your child is not friends with people that they do
While it may seem tempting to ban your child from social media completely, it is not a viable option as your child may be pressured into creating a profile when with friends etc. It is better to have an open discussion with your children about social media as they
are more likely to come to you with any problems they incur online than if they know they will get in trouble for having a profile
as they are more likely to keep problems to themselves. You should also discuss with your children how to block people or report pictures/comments that people post if they feel they are harmful. This should make
them feel more comfortable and that they do not need to see things that are upsetting to them.
Web safe? discussing online safety with your child
It may seem a daunting
not know on social media. Even if they have a friend that is talking to someone online, this does not mean that they are your child’s friend and should be avoided.
For more advice on discussing online safety, information can be found at www. nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping- children-safe/online-safety/
Beth Cowan
PREPARATORY & PRIMARY
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 2018
FREE ANNUAL A5 BOOKLET AVAILABLE NATIONALLY