CLARKSVILLE, Ark. — More than a dozen law enforcement agencies from across Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma are attending the North American Police Work Dog Association (NAPWDA) workshop being held in Clarksville.
The training began Monday, Oct. 10, and ends Thursday, Oct. 13.
The City of Clarksville and its police department are hosting the event geared towards the training and certification of K9 officers and their dogs.
Bill Faus, a senior master trainer and one of the founding members of NAPWDA has more than 40 years of experience as a K9 handler and trainer. He jokes that K9 officers and their dogs are closer than an officer and their wife, but understands the seriousness of the special bond of the team.
"It's very important that you maintain this bond with this dog so whenever you go out and search for something, narcotics or explosives, that your dog and you become a team," Faus said. "Your dog knows how you work; you know how that dog works."
The four-day training provides K9 teams the chance to train and certify. Teams will work on patrol, aggression control, narcotics detection, tracking and trailing.
"The dogs, they live for this. They live to make their handlers happy," said Peter Powell, Cammack Village Police Chief.
Powell and his partner, Havoc, made the trip from central Arkansas to Clarksville for the workshop. Powell says events like this not only help make him a better officer in his community but gives Havoc the practice and training he needs to perform his job at the highest level.
"We certify as a team, meaning the handler and the dog as a team," Powell said. "We can identify the dog's reactive behaviors to the source odors which are the narcotic odors."
K9s are rewarded for their work in the field through praise, scratches and even the occasional chew toy. The NAPWDA workshop is no different.
"It's a game to them, they don't look at it as just work," Powell said. "They enjoy the opportunity to get out and work versus if you're on patrol and you're driving around for six or seven hours."
All certifications earned are valid for one year. Many of the agencies attending this week plan to be back next year to renew and the hope is more will take the opportunity next year as well.
"Word is going to get out of what these people are missing and they're going to say, you know, 'we want some of that,'" Faus said. "This is going to be the start of something bigger, bigger, and bigger."
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