K9 Pro Sports
Encyclopedia
History
K9 Professional/Protection Sports, also known as K9 Pro Sports was founded in 1992. The first Personal Protection and Patrol dogDog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
certification trial was held in Ciudad Juarez
Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez , officially known today as Heroica Ciudad Juárez, but abbreviated Juárez and formerly known as El Paso del Norte, is a city and seat of the municipality of Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Juárez's estimated population is 1.5 million people. The city lies on the Rio Grande...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. Events of the very first trial were highlighted in Dog Sports Magazine. The popularity of these certification trials soon crossed over the border into Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. This type of trial was often referred to as a K9 Rodeo. As the organization continued to grow, so did the publicity of its events. K9 Pro Sports was featured in the "Having it all" article of the December, 1999 issue of Dog and Kennel magazine, a national publication for dog owners and dog enthusiasts. The first K9 Pro Sports National Championship was held in 2000, in Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
. The first International Championship trial was held the following year, securing K9 Pro Sports position as a recognized international organization. There are now sanctioned trials on three continents, North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Description
There are 4 divisions that competitors can enter:1) Puppy
2) Training
3) Personal Protection
4) Patrol
Puppy and Training division are used strictly to assess the training
Dog training
Dog training is the process of teaching skills or behaviors to a dog. This can include teaching a dog to respond to certain commands, or helping the dog learn coping skills for stressful environments. Dog training often includes operant conditioning, classical conditioning, or non-associative...
progress of both the dog and handler.
The protection exercises in the Personal Protection division are used to demonstrate the ability of a dog and handler team to “Intimidate, Dominate, and Control” a threat to the hander or family.
A dog and handler team in the Patrol Division are scored on their ability to “Detect, Defend, and Apprehend” a criminal act or threat.
Judging
A two judge system, is used in the evaluation of each performance. Written score sheets give all competitors a written evaluation of their performance as seen by the judgeJudge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
s in real time on the field.
Historically, Judges are recruited from military, police
Police dog
A police dog, often referred to as a "K-9 dog" in some areas , is a dog that is trained specifically to assist police and other law-enforcement personnel in their work...
and security
Guard dog
A guard dog, an attack dog or watch dog is a dog used to guard against, and watch for, unwanted or unexpected people or animals. The dog is discriminating so that it does not annoy or attack familiar people.-Barking:...
dog trainers and must possess authoritative credentials in uses of dogs for personal protection.
Organization
There are not any formal education centers, videos, or books generated by the K9 PRO organization. Competitive training is done through a collaboration of experienced dog owners and dog trainers. Training clubs, consisting of experienced members, and novice members alike will often compete to compare their dog training techniques against the techniques of other competing clubs. Many clubs also combine SchutzhundSchutzhund
Schutzhund is a dog sport that was developed in Germany in the early 1900s as a breed suitability test for the German Shepherd Dog. The test would determine if the dog displayed the appropriate traits and characteristics of a proper working German Shepherd Dog...
or Ring training with their K9 Pro Sports training.