CBP K9 Handler EXAM STUDYGUIDE
2023-2024
Drive: Hunt - ANSWER Drive to pursue out-of-sight stimuli
Drive: Drafting - ANSWER Drive to pull when restricted
Genetic Behavior - ANSWER Determined by the dog's genes, born into the dog. A
dog's potential is limited by his genetic makeup.
Environmental Behavior - ANSWER Behavior that is learned through
environmental conditioning.
Instincts - ANSWER Genetic behavior is divided into:
A) Species preservation:
Behavior associated with the survival and reproduction of the species
1) seeking out a mate and mating
2) Nurturing and protecting young
B) Self-preservation:
Behavior associated with the survival of the individual dog
1) Seeking food or defending ones self
Instincts form the basis for canine behavior and are expressed through the
canine's drives and enhanced by the character traits.
Drives - ANSWER Subconscious impulses to react to stimuli
1) Genetic
2) Can be enhanced or diminished through training, but never created or
eliminated
3) A dog will revert to his drives not training when placed under stress
Drive: Air Scent - ANSWER Drive to follow wind borne odors
,Drive: Tracking - ANSWER Drive to follow ground disturbance odors
Drive: Prey - ANSWER Drive to pursue, bite, and kill visual prey
Drive: Activity - ANSWER Drive to move and act
Drive: Play - ANSWER Drive for physical contact with pack members
Drive: Pack - ANSWER Drive for emotional contact with pack members
Drive: Survival - ANSWER 1) Flight: Drive to flee from real or imagined danger
2) Self-Defense: Drive to attack real or imagine danger
Drive: Rank - ANSWER Drive to achieve higher rank in the pack
Drive: Protection - ANSWER Drive to defend pack members
Drive: Guard - ANSWER Drive to defend territorial space from intruders
Drive: Fight - ANSWER Drive to measure physical prowess with rivals
Drive: Trainability - ANSWER Drive to follow the desires of the pack leader
Drive: Homing - ANSWER Drive to return to pack or terriotry
Drive: Herding - ANSWER Drive to circle and direct prey
Drive: Pointing - ANSWER Drive to passively indicate prey
Character Traits - ANSWER Traits that diminish or enhance drive behavior
Traits: Courage/Confidence - ANSWER Courage: Absence of fear toward objects
or in situations
Confidence: Environmentally conditioned acceptance of safety
Traits: Hardness/Softness - ANSWER Hardness: Resiliency toward unpleasant
experiences
Softness: Remembering unpleasant experiences
Traits: Sensory Threshold - ANSWER Amount of stimuli required to engage a
drive.
-May be high or low for each drive
Traits: Sharpness - ANSWER Tendency to react aggressively to stimuli
,Traits: Frustration - ANSWER Tendency to subconsciously react aggressively
when restrained from stimuli
Traits: Temperament - ANSWER Attitude toward life
Causes of aggressive behavior - ANSWER Instinctive behavior
- Aggressive drives
Learned behavior
- Unintentional training
- Unknown training
Two basic types of canine organizations - ANSWER 1) National Registries
2) Working/Training/Sporting Clubs
Canine Organizations - ANSWER USA: AKC
Germany: SC - German Shepard Dog Club of Germany
Holland: KNPV - Royal Dutch Police Dog Assocation
5 Rules for Public Contact - ANSWER Never leave a canine unattended with small
children
Never perform any demonstration off leash
During any contact with the public, always be aware of and control the canine's
head
Never allow the canine to jump on any person
Never leave the canine chained or tied to an object
Modular Training - ANSWER Short, simple lessons which work on one facet of a
finished product.
Timely rewards are crucial when training complex tasks. Segments of complex
tasks should be taught in logical series of short exercises with quick rewards.
Hard/Easy - to search thoroughly for trained odors - ANSWER Hard search easy
find: the canine works for a long time and when source is located the canine is
rewarded quickly after indicating
, Easy/Hard - to indicate the presence of trained odors - ANSWER Easy search hard
find: the canine has and easy/short search but must indicate for a long time.
Classical Conditioning - ANSWER Ivan P. Pavlov
- Russian Scientist
- Credited for discovering that reflex responses can be conditioned to be
associated with previously neutral stimulus
- Discovered that if a canine is exposed to a stimulus in a repetition with a reward
the will associate the stimulus with the reward
Conflict Training - ANSWER Constantly changing training so that the canine
does not become patterned into an incorrect response.
Conflict training is used to prevent improper chaining.
All stimuli exposed to the canine are conflicted except:
1) The trained odors
2) Correct handling skills
Components of a command - ANSWER 1) Command itself
2) Tone of voice
3) Method of enforcement
Tones of Voice - ANSWER Command: Short monotone bark
Correction: Low growling
Permissive: High to low
Praise: High Happy
Agitation: Suspicious, whispering
Enforcement - ANSWER For the canine to make the proper association, a
correction or reward must be delivered within 1/2 to 1 second after the command.
Do NOT:
- Give a command that you cannot immediately enforce
- Give a command and allow the canine to disobey the command
2023-2024
Drive: Hunt - ANSWER Drive to pursue out-of-sight stimuli
Drive: Drafting - ANSWER Drive to pull when restricted
Genetic Behavior - ANSWER Determined by the dog's genes, born into the dog. A
dog's potential is limited by his genetic makeup.
Environmental Behavior - ANSWER Behavior that is learned through
environmental conditioning.
Instincts - ANSWER Genetic behavior is divided into:
A) Species preservation:
Behavior associated with the survival and reproduction of the species
1) seeking out a mate and mating
2) Nurturing and protecting young
B) Self-preservation:
Behavior associated with the survival of the individual dog
1) Seeking food or defending ones self
Instincts form the basis for canine behavior and are expressed through the
canine's drives and enhanced by the character traits.
Drives - ANSWER Subconscious impulses to react to stimuli
1) Genetic
2) Can be enhanced or diminished through training, but never created or
eliminated
3) A dog will revert to his drives not training when placed under stress
Drive: Air Scent - ANSWER Drive to follow wind borne odors
,Drive: Tracking - ANSWER Drive to follow ground disturbance odors
Drive: Prey - ANSWER Drive to pursue, bite, and kill visual prey
Drive: Activity - ANSWER Drive to move and act
Drive: Play - ANSWER Drive for physical contact with pack members
Drive: Pack - ANSWER Drive for emotional contact with pack members
Drive: Survival - ANSWER 1) Flight: Drive to flee from real or imagined danger
2) Self-Defense: Drive to attack real or imagine danger
Drive: Rank - ANSWER Drive to achieve higher rank in the pack
Drive: Protection - ANSWER Drive to defend pack members
Drive: Guard - ANSWER Drive to defend territorial space from intruders
Drive: Fight - ANSWER Drive to measure physical prowess with rivals
Drive: Trainability - ANSWER Drive to follow the desires of the pack leader
Drive: Homing - ANSWER Drive to return to pack or terriotry
Drive: Herding - ANSWER Drive to circle and direct prey
Drive: Pointing - ANSWER Drive to passively indicate prey
Character Traits - ANSWER Traits that diminish or enhance drive behavior
Traits: Courage/Confidence - ANSWER Courage: Absence of fear toward objects
or in situations
Confidence: Environmentally conditioned acceptance of safety
Traits: Hardness/Softness - ANSWER Hardness: Resiliency toward unpleasant
experiences
Softness: Remembering unpleasant experiences
Traits: Sensory Threshold - ANSWER Amount of stimuli required to engage a
drive.
-May be high or low for each drive
Traits: Sharpness - ANSWER Tendency to react aggressively to stimuli
,Traits: Frustration - ANSWER Tendency to subconsciously react aggressively
when restrained from stimuli
Traits: Temperament - ANSWER Attitude toward life
Causes of aggressive behavior - ANSWER Instinctive behavior
- Aggressive drives
Learned behavior
- Unintentional training
- Unknown training
Two basic types of canine organizations - ANSWER 1) National Registries
2) Working/Training/Sporting Clubs
Canine Organizations - ANSWER USA: AKC
Germany: SC - German Shepard Dog Club of Germany
Holland: KNPV - Royal Dutch Police Dog Assocation
5 Rules for Public Contact - ANSWER Never leave a canine unattended with small
children
Never perform any demonstration off leash
During any contact with the public, always be aware of and control the canine's
head
Never allow the canine to jump on any person
Never leave the canine chained or tied to an object
Modular Training - ANSWER Short, simple lessons which work on one facet of a
finished product.
Timely rewards are crucial when training complex tasks. Segments of complex
tasks should be taught in logical series of short exercises with quick rewards.
Hard/Easy - to search thoroughly for trained odors - ANSWER Hard search easy
find: the canine works for a long time and when source is located the canine is
rewarded quickly after indicating
, Easy/Hard - to indicate the presence of trained odors - ANSWER Easy search hard
find: the canine has and easy/short search but must indicate for a long time.
Classical Conditioning - ANSWER Ivan P. Pavlov
- Russian Scientist
- Credited for discovering that reflex responses can be conditioned to be
associated with previously neutral stimulus
- Discovered that if a canine is exposed to a stimulus in a repetition with a reward
the will associate the stimulus with the reward
Conflict Training - ANSWER Constantly changing training so that the canine
does not become patterned into an incorrect response.
Conflict training is used to prevent improper chaining.
All stimuli exposed to the canine are conflicted except:
1) The trained odors
2) Correct handling skills
Components of a command - ANSWER 1) Command itself
2) Tone of voice
3) Method of enforcement
Tones of Voice - ANSWER Command: Short monotone bark
Correction: Low growling
Permissive: High to low
Praise: High Happy
Agitation: Suspicious, whispering
Enforcement - ANSWER For the canine to make the proper association, a
correction or reward must be delivered within 1/2 to 1 second after the command.
Do NOT:
- Give a command that you cannot immediately enforce
- Give a command and allow the canine to disobey the command
