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Learn what goes into canine training for law enforcement.
There is a great deal of work that goes into canine training for law enforcement service. There are also a number of law enforcement websites. I have chosen to focus on LawDogsUSA because they clearly understand and respect the American Pitbull. The American Pitbull makes for the ideal bomb detection dogs, narcotics detection dogs and K9 officers for homeland security. 
LawDogsUSA.org
The Very Best Detection Dogs Are "Made In America!"About Us.: LawDogsUSA - LawDogsUSA is a 501(c)3 (pending) nonprofit organization whose sole purpose is to provide law enforcement agencies with high quality detection dog prospects - free of charge. They rely entirely upon donations to fund their work. All staff donate their time.In their first years of operation, LawDogsUSA has successfully donated narcotics and explosives detection dogs serving at U.S. ports of entry, on the Washington State ferry system, with the Washington State Patrol and other police K9 units. Their detection dogs are extensively screened and only happy, extremely friendly, hard working, physically sound and highly talented dogs are placed. All dogs are altered, vaccinated, microchipped; they x-ray hips and offer a veterinarian health certificate on each dog they place. They have found the American pit bull to be superior as a narcotics and explosives detection dog. Please note: due to their inherent "people friendly" nature, they do NOT offer American pit bulls as "biting" (patrol) dogs. LawDogsUSA offers sweet natured, friendly detection dogs only. Many trainers who have only worked with European sheepdog breeds haven't a clue about the best kept secret in modern detection work... 
Who Are They?The LawDogsUSA facility is located in the Olympia, Washington, area. Their mild climate allows for comfortable housing and training of dogs year round. Located in a rural environment with plenty of room for the dogs to run, they are still only 10 minutes from the City of Olympia - the state capitol - where dogs are exposed to urban situations.Program Director: Diane Jessup is author of The Working Pit Bull, The Dog Who Spoke With Gods, and co-author of Colby's Book of the American Pit Bull Terrier. She has had several dozen articles published in magazines concerning the training of dogs. Diane became a certified Police K9 Instructor in 1979. She has put over 60 training titles on her dogs in many areas including French ring, schutzhund, tracking, herding (duck and sheep, with pit bulls) obedience, and weight pulling. She has been an expert witness in US courts on police K9s as well as dog and cock fighting. She has been POST certified in dog and cock fighting and dog attack safety. Diane has been a featured speaker in five countries for law enforcement and animal control agencies. She and her dogs have been featured on numerous television programs including: the Oprah Show, McNeil/Lehrer News, 48 Hours, The O'Reilly Show, Bryant Gumble's Eye on America and CNN News. She has also trained and owned dogs which have been used in several major motion pictures. She is retired from 20+ years as an animal control officer. Assisting Diane are fellow "LawDoggers": Kirstan Sanders is the program administrator. She is a rescue pit bull owner and active advocate for the breed. Kirstan is tireless in her efforts to educate the public and governments about the problem of irresponsible dog ownership practices. Heather Leu has worked in animal control for six years and earns titles on her American pit bulls under the kennel name Echo Kennel Working Dogs. She is consistantly in the medals in IWPA weight pulling events and agility competitions. The Washington State Patrol Detection Dog Program The Washington State Patrol is Washington State's premiere law enforcement agency. WSP has one of the largest K9 units in the nation. Their officers are the best, their dogs are the best. Other agencies look to them for training and for example. At this time, the WSP has SEVEN American pit bulls working as narcotics and explosives detection dogs. In fact, they have as many American pit bulls working as any other pure breed. Professional organizations such as the American Medical Association, The Canadian Safety Council, the National Animal Control Association, ASPCA, the Humane Society of the United States, the Supreme Court of New York and the Centers for Disease Control all agree on one thing - prejudice directed at certain breeds of dogs is unjustified. Prejudice and fear of American pit bulls is the result of two unfortunate things: a mind set which encompasses bigotry and ignorance of dog behavior. LawDogsUSA would like to commend the Washington State Patrol for simply NOT tolerating prejudice in ANY aspect of its work. This includes selection of animals for the important work of Homeland security and illegal narcotics detection. A good, sound, stable, talented animal is not discarded by the WSP because of petty fads. It's ethics like this that make them one of the most respected agency in the nation
Meet the teams...
Why Pit Bulls?
.: LawDogsUSA -
LawDogsUSA offers a variety of breeds for detection work, but they prefer and specialize in the American pit bull due to their superior work ethic, trustworthy nature and ability. They work with malinois, German shepherds and others and they find no breed matches the American pit bull for stability, human friendliness, work drive and most importantly, their record in the field. As well, they have clean, short hair (very little shedding) and are medium in size. They are far more agile and better able to search confined, multilevel areas like offices than the larger breeds.
With Homeland Security concerns elevated, the need for explosives and narcotics detection dogs for law enforcement is increasing. They see the LAWDOGS program as a way to connect outstanding cops with outstanding working dogs. The sudden need for dogs has, unfortunately, also caused a boom in dog venders who are importing Europe's rejected patrol dogs and selling them as detection dogs for thousands of dollars to unsuspecting police departments. Departments buying vendor dogs have no way of knowing what has been done to those dogs to see if they can get them to bite - biting dogs are sold for much more money. LawDogsUSA animals come from two sources. They give first priority to animals in shelters. The energy, determination and drive that makes an outstanding detection dog often makes the animal challenging as a household pet. For this reason, dogs which will excel at detection work often end up in shelters. LawDogsUSA partners with shelters nationwide to search these dogs out. These animals are put through an extensive battery of tests to ascertain their stability toward children and adults. As well, LawDogs has developed a very small, very specific breeding program to produce purpose bred dogs specifically for detection work. They have found that early age imprinting (they start at 6 weeks of age)of purpose bred puppies produces a superior animal for this important job. This also allows them to custom train the dog of your choice for your agencies specific needs. They understand that some agencies will question the use of a dog breed often abused by criminals and a staple of "fear-based" journalism. The fact is, many breeds, including the German shepherd, have taken (and will take) their turn as the "bad boy" breed, and objective and experienced trainers understand that media hype and ownership fads has nothing to do with a breed's real worth. They encourage any law enforcement officer or administrator with concerns regarding the use an American pit bull as a detection dog to contact them. They will put you in touch with LEO and LE trainers currently using and training the breed. I encourage you to view K-9 X dogs profile to see their most recent graduate who is now one of the best explosives detection dog in the USA. What Makes Them So Good At Detection?
To understand why the American Pit Bull is poised to become America’s premiere detection dog breed, it is first necessary to understand that the "damaged" dog presented by the media doing something tragic is just that - a damaged dog. Damaged by poor breeding practices, poor upbringing, poor management. Damaged by twenty years of being used and abused by fad breeders, punks and criminals trying to create a dog as damaged and anti-social as they are. These damaged animals do not represent what a typical or true representative of the American pit bull breed is. Add to that, despite its popularity, it is a breed which remains a riddle wrapped in an enigma to the vast majority of police dog trainers. While tough on the outside, American Pit Bulls are gooey soft inside and crumble under corrections a
German Shepherd or Rottweiler would shrug off. They want to please - desperately.
So what is a "real" American pit bull like? They are a medium sized dog, weighing between 35 and 65 pounds. They come in many colors and ears can be cropped or left natural. A correct pit bull is not overly short or stocky, and has good length of leg and neck. Bred for centuries to grip run-a-way cattle by the nose (in effect becoming a living nose ring to bring the animal under control) they have a muzzle of medium length and a durable build. The short “bulldog” nose of the show breeds are useless to a real bull working animal. They have a friendly, outgoing nature and a "bombproof" temperament with humans. Their rough and tumble history provides that solid temperament. Dogs being set on bulls, boars, bears or other dogs could never lash out at owners or at referees in the "pit" with them, nor would a dog who bit while being tended for severe injuries be used for breeding. No matter how badly injured, a true pit bull will never lash out at a human. Amicability to humans is bred into the genetics of the purebred American pit bull. Performance bred lines of these dogs are registered as American Pit Bulls, while show bred lines have become known as the American Staffordshire and Staffordshire Bull. While the three breeds have minor differences, most people cannot tell them apart. Today there is a growing trend among fad breeders to increase the size of their "pit bulls" by adding in mastiffs and other breeds but these larger animals do not have the stable temperament nor the sound physical build of a true purebred American Pit Bull. Any “pit bull” over 70 pounds should have its “purebred” status questioned. Ironically what sets the American Pit Bull apart from many other breeds utilized by police is their love of humans. Pit bulls would make a poor choice as a "patrol" dog trained to bite suspects. Pit bulls with correct temperament would much rather lick than bite, and most lack the "defensive drive" to guard. Walking down the Seattle Coleman ferry dock past the Washington State Patrol cars with bomb detection dogs inside, pedestrians evoke sharp barking from the Labradors, German Shepherds, Malinois and other dogs, while K-9 Neville, K-9 Sampson and K-9 X-Dog, the American Pit Bulls, leans up against window barrier begging for attention. What the pit bull has - in spades - is grit. A determination of mind not found in breeds created upon a lesser forge. Give him a job and he’ll get ‘er done. It is a common feature of the breed to have an extremely
strong "prey" or "toy" drive, meaning the dog will do anything for the chance to grip and play with a toy. And that is where detection dog training comes in.
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