031ISSUE 32OFFGRIDWEB.COMare just nasty. We’re looking for certain traits in a dog that
we can use to teach them how to do things like explo-
sives detection. So we see if the dogs have play drive,
ball drive, or hunt drive — things that we can utilize in
their explosives training. Also, is the dog environmentally
sound to different surfaces, vehicles, and loud noises? In
addition, we’re going to check and see, if necessary, if the
dog has the right bite drive to do the bite work if needed.
Can you tell us about the military units or other orga-
nizations your dogs have worked with?
JF: No. I could do that and probably make movies if I
wanted to do those kinds of things, but I’d also be break-
ing my word that I wouldn’t be like all the other turds out
there doing that.
Have your dogs been used in any well-known mis-
sions you can mention?
JF: I’d say our dogs have been used in plenty of well-
known missions.
Who were your biggest mentors?
JF: Certainly in the dog training field, Matthew Duffy,
who wrote my book. Also Ken Licklider, who owns Vohne
Liche Kennels in Indiana.
What would your advice be to someone looking to
get into your line of work?
JF: The dog training business has become really popular
in the last 10 years or so. People see movies, stories, and
video games with military/commando-type dogs doing
impressive things, and a lot of people get into this with that
type of mindset. My advice to everyone is if you want to
do dog training as a career, then you need to like training
dogs and working with people. Those dogs you’re seeing
in movies, video games, or reading about in books are less
than 1 percent of the dog world, as far as a trainer’s job.
As a trainer, especially for me personally, the dog train-
ing part is easy. The majority of the time it’s just work
like anything else; however, I don’t get to handle, work,
and own all the dogs. Something I learned the hard way
through experience as a young dog trainer is that every
dog has an owner or handler. If I can’t do a good job work-
ing with the people, then I’m not going to make much of
a dog trainer. I think most people get into dogs and don’t
realize that most of your work is actually training a human.
What qualities do you think people need to effective-
ly handle dogs in high-stress situations like police,
military, and search-and-rescue work?
JF: I think they need to be athletic, but they also need to
THE COMMANDO
WHISPERERbe mentally calm. Dogs need calm. Whether you’re put-
ting a dog into a search-and-rescue or a military opera-
tion, the dog needs to think it’s a game. The dogs don’t
look at it and go, Oh no, we have to go get some bad guy
tonight, or we have to go up this crazy cliff to go rescue
somebody. They don’t have those thoughts, so the best
handlers and trainers are pushing the information down
to the dog like: This is cool, we’re just here doing our
job and it’s something we’ve done a million times. If you
could tell an athlete, “Hey, you’re shooting a free throw to
win the national championship,” but could convince them
it’s just like everyday practice, they’d probably make it
every time.People often protest the practice of pure-breeding
dogs. Set the record straight about that practice and
whether it’s a problem.