INTERPRETING K9 BODY LANGUAGE ON THE TRACK & DEVELOPING THE

---

JEREMY WIKNER

Jeremy Wikner is a GAK9 Instructor and operates his business from Australia. He has over a decade of experience in the working dog industry and is a veteran of Afghanistan.

Jeremy in total spent 15 years in the infantry, deploying to Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and Afghanistan where he trained foreign forces in counter-insurgency techniques. 

Outside of the military, he has trained Australian and French police, SAR, and Corrections dog handlers in the art of Mantrailing. His most recent accomplishment was traveling to South Africa to train an anti-poaching unit’s dog section on how to integrate the tracking dog into high-risk tracks when approaching armed rhino poachers. 

He also raises and sells apprehension and tracking dogs to police agencies, having sold dogs previously to the Australian Army and Western Australia Police, as well as donated K9s to wildlife conservation organisations both in Australia and in Africa. 

As an international dog trainer, Jeremy spends time abroad in Africa, the South West Pacific, and across Australasia each year.

INTERPRETING K9 BODY LANGUAGE ON THE TRACK & DEVELOPING THE PROXIMITY ALERT

This class will teach handlers how to more effectively interpret the often-subtle body language signs K9s give as they are tracking, providing deeper insights as to what is happening on a track. From understanding what a K9 looks like as they deal with distractions, human and animal contamination, odor pools, corners, as well as observing how wind, terrain, and climate, change how a dog works odor. 

Simultaneously, handlers will be taught how to both recognize K9 body language, as they begin detecting the direct odor pool of the person they are tracking (the proximity alert), as well as how to strengthen this behavior and build a desired alert response in the K9; a silent and automatic alert.   

This class is for handlers who wish to improve their skills in interpreting K9 body language on the track, and be able to know when they are approaching a suspect in advance of making contact.

REQUIRED EQUIPMENT:

-30' Long Line

-Tracking Harness

-Gloves