Libsyn Directory

The Evolution of Police Dog Training with Dr. Stewart Hilliard

Release Date: 07/16/2025

Controlled Aggression

In this episode, Jerry Bradshaw discusses: Canine independence - identifying the problem and how to solve it. Why you might need to be doing less obedience training. Training independence behaviors. Creating hunting games with progression for puppies of all ages. Working with your dog near and away from you so they are comfortable in both positions. Key Takeaways: Balance the inward and outward focus in your puppy training. Wind plays a very important role in the hunting games. The windier it is, the narrower the scent cone; the less wind,...

Learning to Adapt with K9s Talking Scents, Cameron Ford

Controlled Aggression

In this episode, Jerry Bradshaw and Cameron Ford discuss: The creation of PSA and evolution of dog sport. How the rigidity in traditional dog sports has led to innovation and creativity. Being open to adaptation not fighting against it. Increasing complexity in training detection. The responsibility of having an online platform for your dog training. Training based on experience and on research. Key Takeaways: PSA exploded in popularity the last decade due to the prevalence of younger trainers and social media. A lot of traditional dog sport is...

Brad Gillespie - Signaled Punishment

Controlled Aggression

In this episode, Jerry Bradshaw and Brad Gillespie discuss: Positive and negative punishment in police dog training. Pros, cons, and balancing the use of punishment markers. Intentional and unintentional markers. The importance of consistency in punishment. Marking for clearer communication. Biting through the muzzle. Changing one variable at a time and reducing the number of variables in training. Key Takeaways: In some cases, marking punishment may be more important than marking with positive reinforcement. Following the punishment marker with...

The Evolution of Police Dog Training with Dr. Stewart Hilliard

Controlled Aggression

In this episode, Jerry Bradshaw and Dr. Stewart Hilliard discuss: The influence of European sport dogs in early North American working dog training. Benefits and challenges of introducing KNPV-trained dogs to the American market. Evolution of Eastern European working dog trade. Sourcing and importing working dogs. Institutional breeding programs, increased costs, and decreased quality. The future of dog training with kynology. Key Takeaways: KNPV (Royal Dutch Police Dog Association) dogs were the gold standard for transitioning sport dogs to dual-purpose police dog...

Engagement

Controlled Aggression

In this episode, Jerry Bradshaw discusses: Why engagement is important, what it means, and how it differs between puppies and older dogs. The importance of rituals in engagement, no matter the location. Developing engagement and engagement rituals. Creating and maintaining an emotional connection with your dog, no matter your emotional state that day. Key Takeaways: If your dog is not in the right state of mind, you’re not going to achieve your training goals in a particular session. If it happens too many times, you won’t be moving forward in...

Back to the Laboratory in Detection

Controlled Aggression

In this episode, Jerry Bradshaw discusses: The practical differences between direct reward conditioning and indirect reward conditioning. Primacy of learning and conditioning hunting as a means of locating odor. Understanding the foundations built into your dog’s early training. Utilize the quality of hunting as the barometer to show your dog’s interest. Giving varied and unique hiding places for the odor to your dog in training. Creating sticky behavior in your dog when searching. Building variability to maintain behavior over time. Key Takeaways: ...

Back to the Laboratory in Tracking

Controlled Aggression

In this episode, Jerry Bradshaw discusses: Hard surface training for the most successful tracking. Creating an independent problem solver in your dog. Common issues in tracking. Drills and approaches to shore up your tracking foundation and the problems you are facing. Why laying a good track is a critical skill. Key Takeaways: Returning to foundational drills is not a bad thing - it is returning to basics to keep your tracking training progressing forward. One of the first things to train in tracking is pace—this will be different from dog to dog, but our...

Battling Equipment Fixation

Controlled Aggression

In this episode, Jerry Bradshaw discusses: Using the right equipment for the right stage and type of training for your canine. What equipment fixation looks like and how you can overcome it. Equipment orientation drills and the peeling the onion drill. Training your dog to alert on human odors and with man primacy. Key Takeaways: Equipment fixation leads to street failures. Focus on the human form instead of biting equipment. Proper, methodical transitions from hard sleeves to hidden sleeves help to build confidence and create focus on the human decoy....

Foundations of Targeting - Triceps

Controlled Aggression

In this episode, Jerry Bradshaw discusses: The evolution of training targeting, different target areas, and primary vs secondary targets. Training bites with young puppies even before they start teething and when to start grip development. When to teach drive, grip, targeting, and outs for the most success in biting behavior. Making the right equipment choices for the different stages of bite training. Progressions in targeting, why you should train rear and front targets, and how they affect launch. Key Takeaways: Tricep targeting is worth developing and...

Police K9 Utility of The Place Command

Controlled Aggression

In this episode, Jerry Bradshaw discusses: Moving through the phases of behavior acquisition for maximum training potential and skill retention and generalization. Developing Mark, Move, and Reward as your protocol. Using markers, such as try-again markers, to teach your dog variations of learned behaviors. Making place a valuable and a safe place to be for your canine. Using the place command to train perimeter neutrality. Key Takeaways: Dogs say “no” all the time - we have to have a way to make them want to go to a place and compel them to go to a...

More Episodes

In this episode, Jerry Bradshaw and Dr. Stewart Hilliard discuss:

The influence of European sport dogs in early North American working dog training.
Benefits and challenges of introducing KNPV-trained dogs to the American market.
Evolution of Eastern European working dog trade.
Sourcing and importing working dogs.
Institutional breeding programs, increased costs, and decreased quality.
The future of dog training with kynology.

Key Takeaways:

KNPV (Royal Dutch Police Dog Association) dogs were the gold standard for transitioning sport dogs to dual-purpose police dog prospects.
KNPV dogs were not trained to distinguish between equipment and humans, which gave those early Malinois dogs a bad reputation.
Dogs that come from a deprived background with limited experiences often need to be deprogrammed before they can be taught to forget, then taught to learn what they need to know.
Don’t kill your dog by playing with it. The dog’s reward is not a toy; it’s a reward. Toy implies play, and these are working dogs.
Malinois and German Shepherd dogs are not fully adult dogs until 2.5-3. Younger dogs are more vulnerable to mistakes and stress, leaving you, as the trainer, with the technical burden of not making many mistakes.

"I think the future is going to be agency-based breeding, heavily informed by scientific practice, but also with strong participation of practitioners - practical dog people who know how to produce results. Those are the agencies that are going to do really well." — Dr. Stewart Hilliard

Contact Stewart:

Website: https://www.caninetrainingsystems.com/

Book: