Recoil Offgrid – August-September 2019

030

ISSUE 32

OFFGRIDWEB.COM

people who offered me a part-time job training pet dogs

for people, and I really got started doing it as a profession

because part of my dog life was for fun and the other

part was something I was getting paid for.

As that went on, I quickly learned that the best way for

me to do it was to do it on my own. Even back then in

my early 20s, I had bigger dreams than the people I was

working for and had a passion for the real working dogs,

whether it was some sort of Schützhund dog, police dog,

or search-and-rescue dog. Eventually, it became detec-

tion dogs, so I started training on my own in my back-

yard, and it grew from there.

How did you get involved with training dogs for the

military?

JF: I progressed from a little kennel in my backyard to

joining the police department myself. I had this thing in my

mind where if I was going to teach people how to go out

and do real-world stuff, then I needed some hands-on ex-

perience. I did that for several years and was lucky enough

to be in the right place at the right time on the SWAT team,

and I convinced my sergeant to let me have a SWAT dog.

There’s quite a bit of difference between a regular police

dog and a SWAT dog that’s specifically trained for that task.

After Sept. 11, the military, in particular the Special Forces

groups, wanted dogs that operated much like SWAT dogs,

and I just happened to be one of the few people in the

country who had a particular background in training this

type of dog. I was also willing and able to jump out of the

profession I had and go the places they wanted me to go.

So my background and word of mouth led to that.

Are you still training dogs for the military?

JF: Yes. It has grown way past just being me, but we’ve

been doing it since 2003.

When you were training dogs for the military full-time,

what was your position called?

JF: Canine trainer is probably the best title for it. It’s sort

of hard to explain. The elite groups in the military are the

only ones I’ve been involved in. The DOD-wide military in

general has a completely different type of dog and train-

ing, and I wasn’t affiliated with that.

What type of preparation do the dogs you train for

the military and certain international organizations

have to go through?

JF: We go through a rigorous selection test. It’s sort of

like for a human being who wants to be a Special Forces

operator. These dogs need to be healthy, happy, and

social, believe it or not. We’re not looking for dogs that

RECOIL OFFGRID: We read in your book that you fell

in love with dogs when your teacher, a retired K9 of-

ficer, brought one to class. Do you consider that the

flashpoint for your interest in dogs?

Jeff Franklin: I’d say that was the crossroads into working-

type dogs. I’ve been an animal person since I can remem-

ber and was always the kid who had to go find something

alive when I was out playing, so animals have always been

a huge part of my life. But the turning point was definitely

that guy with that German Shepherd, who was my school-

teacher. I thought that was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. I

knew then I wanted to do something with police dogs.

Tell me a little about your company, Cobra Canine,

and how that started.

JF: So, when I got out of the Marines I needed a job. I

didn’t want a normal job and work 9 to 5. Since I’d been

training dogs as a hobby before I entered the military, I

knew that there was a way to make at least some money

doing pet dog training, teaching dogs how to behave,

and doing a little bit of sport training. I got a couple

Clockwise from

top: Jeff and

Cobra 2002

— post Sept. 11

photo shoot

for Fox News;

catching some

shade next to

a helicopter

working in

Mex ico, 2008;

Jeff and his dog

Lady, who’s also

mentioned in

his book, first

day home from

Desert Storm.