ADAPTIVE K9 DEPLOYMENT STRATEGIES

Irondog K9 - Paul Ludwig

Paul retired from the Metro Transit Police Department in Washington DC in 2015 after serving 25 years. After working most aspects of the job, Narcotics, Robbery Squad, Auto Theft etc, Paul applied for and was accepted into the K9 unit. During a midnight shift, Paul was almost killed while being dragged down a highway from a stolen police car when 2 K9’s failed to engage the suspect. Paul changed the way he trained to focus specifically on real life deployment instead of basic certification. Paul became the K9 trainer for his department and worked with multiple agencies throughout his career. Paul wrote and directed the movie K9 Guardians (2015 Amazon Prime Video). Paul travels the world and focuses on correcting the most common failure-issues with K9 apprehension in real life deployment. Additionally, shaping the behavior of the dog, adapting immediately to any situation and giving the specific K9, the exposures needed for their success. Paul’s “Drop the Ego” style of training is a fresh way of understanding how to maximize each K9’s potential. “It’s what you learn after you know it all, that counts” is what he believes. Maximizing each K9’s limit to create that 3 second advantage for the handler, which could be the difference between life or death. His techniques are based on exposure, solidifying the K9's base foundation, and immediate reactionary "Critical Thinking under Chaos" adjustments during deployment .

ADAPTIVE K9 DEPLOYMENT STRATEGIES

Identifying common deployment failures
Bite building with obedience
Static/Passive apprehensions
Targeted location biting
Muzzle fighting to build power
Proper physical removal techniques to avoid conflict
Apprehend on command
Failure to engage immediate response/adaptation

REQUIRED EQUIPMENT:

-Duty gear

-Appropriate clothing for working and weather

-Collar

-Long line

-Street lead

-Harness

-Muzzle