|
HOME
Photographs
The Arena
WKACP
|
|
The Working K-9 Association of Central Pennsylvania (WKACP) returned to WAA but with a difference. Rather than an indoor demonstration, WKACP had a large area outside, and what a tremendous difference that made. It was far easier watching (and photographing) the remarkable demonstration of officers and dogs.
The WKACP is a volunteer group involved in finding and rescuing people. Its members are highly skilled, and they came to WAA with several talented dogs. To start, Craig Bohren had his golden retriever Cuz tracking an object.
|
|||
|
|||
|
And Cuz is on the trail.
|
|||
|
|||
|
The object was found.
Craig Bohren then demonstrated the scenting abilityies of Dart, his Australian shepherd. Only one item of the dozen or so had the target scent.
|
|||
|
|||
|
Does Dart pick the correct one? Absolutely!
Dart returns it for her reward.
|
|||
|
|||
|
The following event had two people hiding on the grounds, and Dart finding them by air scenting into the "lost people."
Officer Mark Swindell was the next one up, with his German Shepherd/Belgian Malinois mixed breed dog, Cezar. Here, Cezar comes trotting to Mark Swindell's call. One of Cezar's jobs is to sniff out narcotics. Some substance was hidden and then Cezar found it.
|
|||
|
|||
|
What happened next is what I call a super catch. Cezar's reward is a ball toss, and he's ready while Mark winds up.
|
|||
|
|||
|
The toy is thrown (and it's visible in the upper left), and Cezar is after it.
|
|||
|
|||
|
And with a great leap, Cezar catches the ball.
|
|||
|
|||
|
My question after Cezar's catch is whether one gives a reward after giving a reward.
Identifying Officer Mark Swindell's patrol car is straightforward: Cezar's portrait is stenciled on the side. (Good idea. Maybe he'll start a trend.) Officer Kris Hopkins (and current president of WKACP) and her dog Keno then gave another great demonstration. It started simply, with Keno finding the keys that Kris had dropped. One of the good aspects from the WKACP members is that they gave more than a show. Each person told us a lot of information about the training, behavior, and background of their dogs. There were instructions for Keno.
|
|||
|
|||
|
And there was rewarding Keno for a job well done.
|
|||
|
|||
|
At the same time, Kris kept the audience informed about everything that was occurring.
|
|||
|
|||
|
The next demonstration was Keno apprehending and then keeping in check a bad guy (as performed by Officer Mark Swindell).
Well, the bad guy looks okay, but can you trust him?
|
|||
|
|||
|
Trust was broken, and Keno goes into action.
|
|||
|
|||
|
In an emergency situation, having a large, strong dog available is a definite plus. But what I never knew until now is just how rapidly a dog can leave a car - through the window.
|
|||
|
|||
|
And onto the ground.
|
|||
|
|||
|
And Keno is running at full speed.
|
|||
|
|||
| Wonderful event, wonderful people, wonderful animals. That is true for the entire WAA. | |||
