Welcome speech

Room B

The science behind smells – boosting olfactory senses in K9 units

Keynote | Room B

Dogs play a central role in law enforcement agencies around the world aiding the identification of criminals, drugs, explosives, and many more. Thanks to their genetics and over 100 million olfactory receptors, dogs can be trained to sense and smell the tiniest of substances. Today, dogs are also being trained in disease diagnosis, including COVID and cancer through their impressive smelling capabilities. How can law enforcement agencies make use of science to train their dogs and enhance their olfactory competencies? What novel training strategies can be employed to improve scent memory in canine units?

Attendee insights:

This session underlines the importance of understanding the science behind smells to train police canine units and the novel applications of these olfactory capabilities to crack future crime and identify suspects.

Combining technology, science and K9 - Finland’s case study

Strategy talk 1 | Room B

Thanks to their impressive olfactory senses, dogs have become an important pillar of law enforcement and are being deployed across a wide array of security and safety operations. Coupled with the right use of technology and science, how is Finland leading its K9 force across complex crime operations? What novel training strategies are being deployed by Finland’s Police force and how are the right breeds being procured to be trained for specific operations?

Attendee insights:

An important session for attendees to learn how Finland’s Police Dog Training Centre is championing the use of technology and science to train its K9 force and prepare them for all crime scenarios.

Innovative K9 training strategies to detect body-worn explosives and firearms with case study

Strategy talk 2 | Room B

Explosive detection dogs play a crucial role in maintaining public safety and security. With the rise of terrorism threats, how can police forces train K9 units to identify explosive materials and firearms? What standards are required to enable efficient training of K9 units? How can automated training aid faster deployment of explosive detection dog units with minimal human intervention?

Attendee insights:

This session highlights the use of novel strategies to enhance the explosive detection capabilities of canine units.

Q&A

Room B

Break and Police Dog Show

Using medical scent detection dogs to identify SARS-COV-2 infected individuals

Strategy talk | Room B

The pandemic has shown that dogs can be used for a wire array of medical detection operations too. How were dogs trained to detect respiratory organic compounds such as saliva to identify patients affected by COVID? How can such training methodologies be used to enhance dogs’ capability to identify other illnesses such as cancer, malaria etc?

Attendee insights:

This presentation will shed light on the strategies that were implemented to train dogs to identify and detect patients affected by COVID and how the techniques can be implemented to detect other healthcare issues.

Managing health and wellness of K9 units

Strategy talk | Room B

Dogs have been the companions of humans for ages and have evolved to adapt to the environment we have created. Complex tasks often impact the health and wellbeing of canine units affecting their behaviour and performance in the field. How can canine handlers remain cautious of the health and wellness of canine units? What novel medical interventions are available to support the rehabilitation of police dogs following accidents? How does human-animal interaction impact the behaviour of dogs?

Attendee insights:

An important panel for canine unit handlers to understand novel approaches to treating police dogs and supporting their rehabilitation.

Building future-ready K9 units

Strategy talk | Room B

The success of a K9 unit depends on various aspects including the handler, the training strategy, breed of the dog as well as its health and wellness. Police forces often adapt to new crime forms by embracing technology and innovation. How can canine units be prepared for the future and what new strategies must be employed to select the right breed and train them for a wide array of security and specialist operations?

Attendee insights:

An important session to understand how police forces and law enforcement agencies can train and prepare their K9 units for new forms of crime through the right mix of training and wellness programmes.

End of K9 conference