CANINES

Canine Care

At AMK9, we consider our canines to be part of the AMK9 family.  We exercise the utmost integrity when caring for and training our canines and always treat every canine with respect and dignity with the belief that safety, security, comfort, and well-being are paramount. For these reasons, we maintain a strict set of care and training guidelines.  For example, our canines are fed a strict diet according to veterinary recommendations for maintaining high energy, joint heath, and immune system function.  Additionally, AMK9 maintains up-to-date health certifications for each canine, and canines have immediate veterinary access during training.

K-9 detection training is conducted in state-of-the-art facilities and is overseen by industry renowned trainers who hail from the Department of Defense Military Working Dog Training Center at Lackland Air Force Base, among others. All of AMK9’s canines are trained using a toy and praise reward; AMK9 never uses the food reward method for training our dogs.  During the training of the canines it is important to select the proper toy to train and motivate the canines.  Choosing the wrong toy can be a major distraction and cause the canine to be ineffective.

Canine Selection

AMK9 owns the canines it uses to fulfill the contracts it procures.  Our canine selection process is based on the breeds’ natural characteristics and successful history as detection canines. AMK9 selects canines with the highest level of “Play and Prey” drive.  Dogs with a Play and Prey drive are a pleasure to train; they have exceptional endurance, enthusiasm and motivation for performance activities such agility drills, flyball, and obedience training.  For these reasons, AMK9 generally chooses to use German Shepherds, Dutch Shepherds, Belgian Malinois, and Labrador Retrievers.

AMK9 purchases only handpicked and the highest quality canines with proven working dog bloodlines from its exclusive European sources.  Each canine is individually selected, following strict guidelines, and according to its ability to demonstrate maximum performance standards. As it is mission critical that we maintain integrity in the canine screening process, we use senior Trainers and subject matter experts to perform hands on assessments and testing of each canine, based on the following criteria:

  • Health
  • Genetics
  • Temperament
  • Endurance
  • Titration Levels

 
AMK9 trainers choose only the most qualified canines knowing all canines are subject to rigorous and continuous testing to prove maximum performance standards before deployment. Typically, less than ten percent (10%) of the canines screened will pass the initial evaluation and be approved for purchase. Some of the qualities AMK9 looks for in its Contract Working Dogs (CWDs) include:

  • A stable and approachable disposition;
  • The ability to behave appropriately around people, at all times;
  • Eagerness to exhibit obedience to verbal or signaled commands;
  • Above average hunting and retrieval instincts;
  • Exceptional intelligence and acuity;
  • Prolonged enthusiasm for play;
  • Focused and fervent desire to search for an inanimate object or reward toy; and
  • Consistent and appropriate behavior through all circumstances, including loud noises.

 
AMK9 has established a positive working relationship with the United States (U.S.) Military, allowing our K-9 Teams to achieve certification by the U.S. Military Working Dog Certification Authority, according to their standards which are the most stringent in the industry. This is the same criteria used by the 341st Military Working Dog Unit at Lackland Air Force Base for all military working dog teams.

Canine Adoptions

Because AMK9 is committed to excellence in both our K-9 detection services and the treatment of our working dogs, for the sake of safety, it is imperative that we work with canines that exhibit proven, maximum performance standards. Yet naturally, as canines age, their endurance and enthusiasm wanes. So in order to preserve our safety standards, and to guarantee the richest quality of life for our canines, AMK9 chooses to adopt out our working dogs to carefully chosen and prescreened homes, upon their retirment.

For more information about adopting an AMK9 retired working dog click HERE.