K9 Dog Unit Attachment-Day 2

On the second day of the attachment, we assembled at the lounge at 8.30am sharp. We were told by Chris that we will be bringing out the dogs for a walk, thus we are required to wear track pants for fear that the dogs will scratch us. After a short briefing and settling some admin stuff, we went to pick our dogs up! Chris reminded us that it is still quite early in the morning, thus the faeces of our dog is still not cleared yet. We have to be careful for fear that we will step on it. Also, the stench might be overpowering too.

As there is still some time to spare, we went to groom our dogs after leashing them. After yesterday experience, we were more familiar with the procedures of grooming the dogs.

After grooming them, we bring them out for a walk! Chris told us to be prepared as when bringing the dogs out for a walk, anything could happen. For example, instead of bringing them for a walk, we may go treasure hunting instead. Chris also mentioned to us that a poo bag or otherwise a plastic bag is necessary when bringing the dogs out for a walk.

Chris told us that when bringing the dogs out for a walk, it is better to keep the dogs away from one another or a fight among the dogs will begin. Well, I think Yan Lin has a lot of things to share about walking the dogs as after 5 minutes of walk, her dog has a diarrhea. After seeing this, Chris immediately took out a poo bag and cleaned the area clean. I could only say Chris is prepared with all sorts of situation. Though Sally did not do this to me, but I met with another problem. Sally is very strong and most of the time, she brings me for a walk instead of me bringing her!

After two rounds of walk around the unit, we rested outside the field around ten minutes. During this period of time, we let our dogs to have a rest and a drink. After ten minutes or so, it is interacting time! We played retrieving with our dogs. One by one, we bring our dog to the field. We then unleashed them and threw a ball in the field. The job of the dogs is to take it back for us and the game carried on. When waiting for our turn to play retrieving with our dogs, our dogs had turned crazy. Yan Lin’s Pip scratched her neck and the back part of her body and my dog keep pulling me to the field. The rest of the dogs keep barking furiously. Chris told us that this situation is normal. During the game of retrieving, Sally kept biting on the ball and refused to give me back. And when a dog bites on it for a long time, one might be able to guess that the ball had been washed with its saliva. I used 2 balls for this game of retrieving. When Sally bite on it and refused to give back the ball, I threw the second one such that she can pick the second ball and I can take back the first ball. I felt that playing and interacting with dogs is fun.

Waiting for our turn to play retrieving...

After playing with our dogs, we put the dogs back into their kennel. We then went to the dog’s training room again, to see how the dogs train. Chris told us that dogs do not eat drugs in order to sniff out the drugs. Instead, dogs treat it as a form of playing. Firstly, the handlers will let the dogs sniff the drugs for a short while. These drugs are a seized item when the officers do their checking. Then they would bring the dogs out and hide the drugs at some place. After hiding it, the dogs are then brought in and were unleashed. The dogs will sniff out the drugs and once they sniffed them, they will paw on it. Then, the handler will throw a ball out. Chris told us to the dogs, the smell of drug means a ball. Once they sniffed out the drugs, a ball would appear.

After which, We were shown to a simulated multi-storey car park area, where a dog handler brought the dog around a car and got her to sniff at possible places where someone might hide explosives. I was astonished to see that the search was not only done to the exterior of the car, but also to the interior, including the car boot. An Explosive Detector Dog is trained to stay still, while a Narcotics-Detecting Dog will paw actively. We were told that if the Explosive Detector Dog smelled explosives stuff, they would not paw on the ground. Instead, the dogs would remain still for fear that the explosive items would explode due to the pawing of the dogs. As for the Narcotics-Detecting Dog it would be difficult to see the dog’s signal as they cannot stay still for long. Thus, they would paw continuously once they sniffed drug.

After training, lunch is next. This time round our lunch is noodle with lychee juice and an apple. After lunch, Johnny came and took over us again. Our next activity is cleaning the kennel. We then changed into the ‘Phua Chu Kang boots’ and we are ready to wash the dog’s kennel. As my dog is in the sickbay, there is a small garden outside the kennel and dogs could play at there. I brought my dog to that garden and begin to wash my kennel. Johnny told me that the first step of washing the kennel is to spot faeces, if there are, we are supposed to take them out with a plastic bag first. Then, we used a pipe and wash the kennel. Just as I am thanking god that there are no faeces in the kennel, my dog gave me a ‘treasure.’ After cleaning the kennel, I brought my dog inside the kennel. Yan Lin and the rest did not manage to clean her dog kennel as hers is already cleaned by some trainers. I felt lucky to clean my dog’s kennel as it is one in a lifetime thing.

After cleaning the kennel, bathing the dog is next. According to the dog handlers, there is no need for a dog to be bathe everyday. One of the elements to consider is the weather. If it is raining most of the time, dogs will not be bathing frequently. Other than knowing how to bathe a dog correctly I also learnt some safety procedures a dog handler should note. For example, when bathing near the dog’s head, we need to cover their ear for fear that they would get an infection. During the bath, Sally keep on splashing water out at me. And end up; I felt that other than Sally, I had a bath too. I have fun bathing Sally.

After bathing Sally, blow drying her was next. Johnny mentioned to us that blow drying our dogs thoroughly is one of an important process as if the dogs were not totally dry, they will suffer from illness like rheumarthritis.
I felt Yan Lin is a bit of unlucky on the second day, as right after she blow dry her dog, her dog had another round of diarrhea again. Anyway, after the bath, feeding dog was next. Same procedure, went to take the feed bowl, gave my dog a scoop of dog food and collect the feed bowl after they eat finish the food. From here, I learnt that one should cherish the food we have. The dogs ate the same food everyday but they did throw a tantrum by not eating anything. Thus, we should not be choosy and be happy with the food we have.

From day 2, the activities are more, and we had gain more dog knowledge. Also, we had learnt that a K9 Handler was not all play. It is very important for K-9 handlers to learn their canine partners' temperament.