Roller, Doug

Sgt. Doug Roller was the Chief Trainer for the Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD) K-9 Platoon, Metropolitan Division for 17 years, until he retired in March of 2013. He is a nationally recognized expert in K-9 tactics, perimeter containment and search techniques, with over 6,500 K-9 deployments. Sgt. Roller is a court qualified K-9 expert and has testified in numerous K-9 litigation cases. In 2010, Doug started his company Tactical K9 LLC. His company has conducted countless seminars throughout North and South America, as well as Asia. Doug is also a California POST Certified AICC Instructor.

Website: tacticalk-9.com

Class: E-Collar: Off Leash Control and Canine Problem Solving

This course is designed to provide a basic introduction to the E-collar for the Police Service Dog (PSD) and Military Working Dog (MWD). The E-collar was originally designed to enhance already learned behavior with working canines, providing a means of communicating with the canine in an off-leash capacity. Although E-collar training is aversive in nature, the instruction provided will take great measures to instill the positive methods of dog training, providing proper introduction of the E-collar to the canine’s already known commands. This was how the E-collar was originally designed to be utilized. In the past, many police departments and military K-9 programs have misused the tool, leaving the untrained trainer/handler with a negative outlook on the device. The system used by Tactical K9 is one that was developed by the Los Angeles Police K-9 Platoon. The LAPD has utilized the E-collar for longer than any other police agency in the country. Over the years, coinciding with the E-collar’s development, methods have been fine tuned to provide the best industry methods for the E-collar’s introduction as well as advanced tactical canine training for law enforcement and military communities. This class will also cover problem solving issues that most frequently arise with police and military service dog teams. Topics will include: outing issues, search and ranging problems, handler canine conflicts, balancing the E-collar with conventional training methods, developing a solid shooting platform while working your canine and other common problems.

Class: K-9 Tactics and Preparing for the Real World

In many respects this class is a follow-up to Doug Roller’s – Introduction to the E-Collar and K9 Problem Solving Class. This class will explore advanced work leading to the Tactical K9 search as well methods to prepare for the real world. The first portion will discuss a brief overview of Command Post Operations and setting up the K9 search. Search announcements and legal aspects of the K9 search will be discussed. The methods utilized and developed over decades have been attributed to LAPD’s 70 per cent find ration of suspect apprehensions. This area is often overlooked by agencies throughout the country. The second portion of the class will discuss in detail advanced off lead search tactics. Proper positioning of search team members while conducting the off-lead search will be examined. The controlled search or “hunt” while partnering with the canine will be discussed as well as the importance of off lead control. The verbal out and strong out will mutually be examined, as well as the legal aspects effecting both.

Further discussion will involve preparing the canine for street work, which will include civil work, muzzle agitation and searching with the muzzle. The proper introduction and use of prosthetics and undergarment sleeves. It is important to note that a myriad of tools and behaviors must be used properly to develop the “street ready” canine.