December 2022
Welcome to the first in a new series of quarterly bulletins for those who want to learn more about the breeding, development and training of dogs needed for detection work.
Our goal with these newsletters is to keep you apprised of advances and opportunities in breeding, development and training of detection dogs as well as information and updates about public policy, standards, and other factors that play an important role in decreasing U.S. dependence on the acquisition of foreign dogs to protect our national safety and security.
These pages will include information about raising confident puppies, best practices, policy and scientific achievements, and approaches for producing better puppies for future detection work.
Updates from the AKC Detection Dog Task Force will include information about educational programming including webinars, conferences, online puppy raising courses, advocacy information and updates from the AKC Patriotic Puppy Program (PPP).
The AKC Patriotic Puppy Program works one-on-one with breeders and trainers who have committed to raising one or more puppies using AKC PPP guidelines and protocols for future advanced training and potential future deployment as an explosives detection dog.
We thank those breeders who are part of this important initiative. It is our pleasure to share the experiences, lessons and successes of the AKC Patriotic Puppy Program and its participants as we work together improve the quality and availability of U.S.-bred, raised and trained explosives detection dogs.
This inaugural issue introduces AKC Detection Dog Programs and updates including:
- The AKC Patriotic Puppy Program: The Patriotic Breeder
- Detection Dog Conference: Addressing the Shortage of Bomb-Sniffing Dogs
- AKC DDTF Webinar “Robustness in Training” – A Discussion with Jay Crafter of Invictus K9
- GAO Releases Report on Federal Working Dog Health and Welfare
To learn more, please visit www.akc.org/edc .
Thank you for joining us. We look forward to sharing exciting new information about canine explosives detection in this issue and ones to come. For more information about this newsletter or the AKC Detection Dog Task Force, please don’t hesitate to contact us at DetectionDog@akc.org.
— The AKC Detection Dog Task Force
Dr. Carmen Battaglia, Task Force Co-Chair, AKC Board of Director
Chris Sweetwood, Task Force Co-Chair, AKC Board of Director
Rita Biddle, AKC Board of Director
Dominic Carota, AKC Board of Director
Ann Wallin, AKC Board of Director
Mark Dunn, AKC EVP
Sheila Goffe, AKC VP, Govt. Relations
Doug Ljungren, AKC EVP, Sports & Events
Melissa Ferrell, Program & Research Manager
Stacey West, Program Manager, Patriotic Puppy Program & Executive Field Rep, Retrievers