The Search Wall
How block walls are really used in detection work, and how to get everything out of them.
Saturday 14 November · 10:00 to 16:00 · Bovey Tracey, Devon
Six handler places. Ten observer places.
Walk into almost any detection training facility and you will find a block wall. Walk into most of them and you will find it being used as scenery.
The wall has become the go to tool for detection trainers, and for good reason. But a wall on its own teaches a dog nothing. What makes it work is the sequence you put the dog through, the signals you build in at the start, and the standard you hold once the dog knows the job.
This is a full day on exactly that. Not theory about walls, the actual process, start to finish, with your dog on it.
ABOUT GRAHAM
Graham Attwood is a former UK police dog handler and trainer, an international keynote speaker, and the man who introduced digital evidence detection to UK policing.
Feedback from the last masterclass was that his knowledge and experience were unrivalled by anyone the attendees had trained with before, and every attendee said they would return.
WHAT THE DAY COVERS
Why a wall is used for scentwork and detection training in the first place
How to introduce your dog to the wall
How to teach your dog to search it
How to teach start signals and rituals
How to build search intensity
How to teach systematic searching
How to introduce duration, and how to work negative searches
WHAT TO BRING
Harness and long line
Water and a bowl
Your dog’s usual reward
Weather appropriate clothing
Dogs must wait in vehicles during down time between sessions
WHAT YOU LEAVE WITH
By the end of the day you will know how and why block walls are used, how to get the most out of them, and why they have become the go to for detection trainers.
WHO IT IS FOR
Handlers, trainers, Trainer to trainer, at operational level and anyone teaching or planning to teach.
Your dog needs to be able to search for a Kong. An established indication is desirable, not essential. Dogs need to be level-headed and sociable with people and other dogs.
OBSERVER PLACES · NEW FOR THIS MASTERCLASS
Ten observer places are available alongside the six handler places.
You attend the full day and cover the same syllabus, watching and listening as six dogs work through it. No dog, no kit, nothing to manage.
A lot of people take more away from watching than from handling. You see six different dogs meet the same problem in six different ways, which is six times the learning of working your own.
It suits you if you are between dogs, if your dog is not ready yet, if you are nervous about working in front of a group, or if you want the knowledge before committing to the equipment and the training time.
Ten observer places. £75 including VAT.
BOOKING
Handler place, £150 including VAT. Six available.
Observer place, £75 including VAT. Ten available.
Paid in full at booking. Places are non-refundable but transferable to another handler if you cannot make it.