OSCE Office in Tajikistan facilitates training course on effective use of service dogs in fighting terrorism and organized crime

DUSHANBE, 13 November 2015 – Some 24 senior and mid-level staff of K-9 Centre of Tajikistan’s Interior Ministry from Dushanbe and the country’s regions today completed a two-week training course, facilitated by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, on the effective use of service dogs in the fight against terrorism and organized crime.

The training course, held at the premises of K-9 Centre in Dushanbe, familiarized the K-9 Centre staff with the skills and capacities of service dogs and covered topics such as building a positive relation between a handler and a dog, learning theories, the methods and techniques for training service dogs, and scent imprinting.

“This training course greatly changed the handlers’ visions on training techniques by highlighting the importance and use of acquired knowledge during practical exercises with service dogs in their duty performance,” said Shurat Ulmas, Head of the K-9 Centre.

Josef Schützenhofer, Head of the Police Dog Training Centre (PDTC) in Bad Kreuzen, Austria, said:  “Focal points in this workshop learned about modern standards in service dog-training based on scientific foundations and their application in practical exercises to increase the effectiveness of police dogs in the fight against terrorism and organized crime.”

During the training course participants also learned about the principles and new methods of training service dogs based on the PDTC practice. They engaged in a series of practical exercises to understand the capacities and skills of service dogs in the process of detecting explosives, firearms and drugs in fighting terrorism and organized crime.