S7E12 Swimming against the Tide with Dave McIver

What if we have been underestimating dogs all along?.In this episode, we sit down with our wonderful friend and colleague Dave McIver, a retired Police Dog Trainer and Senior Inspector who spent an incredible career working with police dogs across the UK..Dave’s journey started in a rather different direction. After a brief spell in the Army and seeing an advert for the Police Cadets, his ambition was motorcycles. Somehow, that journey ended up taking him into the world of dogs, horses and some truly remarkable experiences..From Sam, his first police dog who famously “failed” for three weeks, to Rocky, a tiny German Shepherd who became part of an extraordinary career, Dave has seen the world of working dogs change almost beyond recognition..And this is where things get really interesting..How do you train a police dog? How has that changed since the 1970s? And what happens when we stop trying to make dogs behave like we want them to and instead start understanding what they are naturally capable of?.Dave takes us from forced retrieves and traditional obedience to modern training methods based on motivation, instinct and the individual dog..Because perhaps the biggest lesson is this: dogs are capable of far more than we give them credit for..We get into the differences between German Shepherds and Malinois, the experimental use of breeds such as Akitas, Ridgebacks and Beaucerons, and the ongoing debate about breeding the right operational dog. Is the Malinois × German Shepherd the ultimate combination, or is the answer simply finding the right individual dog?.We talk about gifted dogs, police breeding programmes and whether success really comes down to genetics, training, experience, knowledge or something much harder to measure..Dave also gives his thoughts on why police dog numbers are falling, why training times have changed and why a better understanding of dogs has completely altered what trainers can achieve..Then we go down the scent trail..Why don't explosive detection dogs get trained to find other scents? What makes a great detection dog? And what can we learn from cadaver dogs and other specialist disciplines?.Along the way, Dave shares some remarkable stories from an extraordinary career, giving us a rare insight into the world of police dogs from someone who has lived it, trained it and watched it evolve..This is a conversation about dogs, training, instinct, policing and the extraordinary things that happen when humans learn to work with what a dog can do rather than simply telling it what to do..An amazing man. An amazing career. An amazing insight into the dogs we think we understand.. ---- oOo ----Lez and Ross have both been in the industry professionally for well over 20 years and each has been involved with dogs for over 40 years. .Whilst sensibly they have stayed away from the ‘limelight’ regarding TV offers, they have regularly been on national and local radio, spoken at national events at NDWA, CFBA, and Kennel Club / Crufts events as well as bespoke speaking engagements for the Dog Safety Education Executive (DogSEE). .Ross wrote for Dogs Monthly Magazine for over 12 years and Lez was the first lady feature writer for a national Shooting Magazine (both Sporting Gun and Sporting Shooter). .They were also 'study buddies' and were the first in the UK to achieve a Masters Degree (Professional Practice) in Canine Behaviour and Psychology in 2011. .They work well together and apart, support and work with dog rescue organisations and train professional dog trainers and behaviourists. Different as chalk and cheese, but maybe not as different as they like to think..Intrigued? want to know more? then check out our websites...www.rossmccarthy.com ~ www.lezgraham.com