GAK9 Worldwide Trailing Certification Portal
Certifications may not be ordered unless the certification level has been successfully achieved by the team under observation by a GAK9 Trainer.
If you would like to certify, please find a GAK9 trainer in your area here:
STANDARDS INTRODUCTION
These certification standards are divided into four classes: “Field”, “Rural”, “Suburban” and “Urban”. Each class includes four levels: “Handler”, “Specialist”, “Expert” and “Master”.
Class Definitions
Field: Open grassy areas, brush, desert, or woods. Little to no human contamination. Primarily soft surface.
Rural: All of the above areas mixed with simple surface changes such as dirt roads and small streets. A small amount of human contamination is possible. Mostly soft surface with about 20% surface changes.
Suburban: All of the above plus industrial type areas or business parks where there is more human activity but confined primarily to the structures with off hours or when the businesses are closed as to minimize human contact. Approximately 50/50% hard and soft surface.
Urban: This is primarily a city type setting with business, residential, and high human and vehicle traffic areas. A mixture of hard and soft surface is to be expected.
Who may certify? Any GAK9 Trainer may certify each certification class of the level he or she is certified for training at. For example, a Level 1 GAK9 trainer may only certify Field, Level 2-Rural, Level 3-Suburban and Level 4- Urban. All Military and Police GAK9 Trainers can certify at all levels.
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CERTIFICATION CLASS “FIELD, RURAL, SUBURBAN, URBAN”The certification classes are divided into four levels:
- Handler
- Specialist
- Expert
- Master
- Scent evidence collection and use
- a) The scent article will be provided by the trail layer in a jar or any other suitable container previously before he/she lays the trail.
- b) The scent article might either be placed directly at the start of the trail or left in the care of the expert witness.
FIELD HANDLERThe track/traila) The trail will be 500-600m with minimum one turn.b) The age of the trail will be 30 minutes old.
c) The trail must be on soft surface only (woods, fields). d) 15 minutes time limit for successful trail completion.FIELD SPECIALISTThe track/traila) The trail will be 700-800m with minimum two turns.b) The age of the trail will be 1 hour old.c) The trail must be soft surface only (woods, fields with possible road crossings).d) 25 minutes time limit for successful trail completion.FIELD EXPERTThe track/traila) The trail will be 800-1’000m with minimum three turns.b) The age of the trail will be 2 hours old.c) The trail must be mainly on soft surface (woods, fields). At least one road crossing must occur.d) 35 minutes time limit for successful trail completion.FIELD MASTERThe track/traila) The trail will be 1’000-1’500m with minimum three turns.b) The age of the trail will be 4 hours old.c) The trail must be mainly on soft surface (woods, fields). At least two road crossings must occur. There will be at least one obstacle that the K-9 Team will have to bypass or negotiate (e.g. bridge, wall, fence, water creek, etc.).d) 45 minutes time limit for successful trail completion. -
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Rural HandlerThe track/traila) The trail will be 500-600m with minimum one turn.b) The age of the trail will be 30 minutes old.c) The trail must be in a rural area (fields, gravel roads, woods) and its start should be on soft surface. At least one surface change (gravel, concrete, black-top etc.) must occur.d) 15 minutes time limit for successful trail completion.RURAL SPECIALISTThe track/traila) The trail will be 700-800m with minimum two turns.b) The age of the trail will be 1 hour old.c) The trail must be in a rural area (fields, gravel roads, woods) and its start should be on soft surface. At least one surface change (gravel, concrete, black-top etc.) must occur.d) 25 minutes time limit for successful trail completion.RURAL EXPERTThe track/traila) The trail will be 800-1’000m with minimum three turns.b) The age of the trail will be 2 hours old.c) The trail must be in a rural area (fields, gravel roads, woods) mainly on soft surface. At least two surface changes (gravel, concrete, black-top etc.) must occur.d) 35 minutes time limit for successful trail completion.RURAL MASTERThe track/traila) The trail will be 1’000-1’500m with minimum three turns.b) The age of the trail will be 4 hours old.c) The trail must be in a rural area (fields, gravel roads, woods) mainly on soft surface. At least two surface changes (gravel, concrete, black-top etc.) must occur.d) There will be at least one obstacle that the K-9 Team will have to bypass or negotiate (e.g. bridge, wall, fence, water creek, etc.). e) 45 minutes time limit for successful trail completion..SUBURBAN HANDLERThe track/traila) The trail will be 400-500m with minimum one turn.b) The age of the trail will be 30 minutes old.c) The trail must be in a quiet area (suburban, industrial, etc.) and its start should be on soft surface. At least one surface change (gravel, concrete, black-top etc.) must occur.d) 15 minutes time limit for successful trail completion.SUBURBAN SPECIALISTThe track/traila) The trail will be 600-700m with minimum two turnsb) The age of the trail will be 1 hour old.c) The trail must be in a quiet area (suburban, industrial, etc.) and its start should be on soft surface. At least one surface change (gravel, concrete, black-top etc.) must occur.d) 20 minutes time limit for successful trail completion.SUBURBAN EXPERTThe track/traila) The trail will be 800-1’000m with minimum three turns.b) The age of the trail will be 2 hours old.c) The trail must be in an industrial/suburban area and its start should be on soft surface. At least two surface changes (gravel, concrete, black-top etc.) must occur. The area should be chosen so that the K-9 Team will encounter distractions.d) 30 minutes time limit for successful trail completion.SUBURBAN MASTER
The track/traila) The trail will be 1’000-1’500m with minimum three turns.b) The age of the trail will be 4 hours old.c) The trail must be in an industrial/suburban area and its start can either be on soft or hard surface. At least two surface changes (gravel, concrete, black-top etc.) must occur. The area should be chosen so that the K-9 Team will encounter distractions.d) 45 minutes time limit for successful trail completion.URBAN HANDLERThe track/traila) The trail will be 400-500m with minimum one turn.b) The age of the trail will be 30 minutes old.c) The trail must be in an urban area (residential area, school, busy industrial estate, etc.) and its start should be on soft surface. At least one surface change (gravel, concrete, black- top etc.) must occur.d) 15 minutes time limit for successful trail completion.URBAN SPECIALISTThe track/traila) The trail will be 600-700m with minimum two turns.b) The age of the trail will be 1 hour old.c) The trail must be in an urban area (residential area, school, busy industrial estate, etc.) and its start can either be on soft or hard surface. At least one surface change (gravel, concrete, black-top etc.) must occur.d) 20 minutes time limit for successful trail completion.URBAN EXPERTThe track/traila) The trail will be 800-1’000m with minimum three turns. b) The age of the trail will be 2 hours old.c) The trail must be in an urban area (residential area, school, busy industrial estate, etc.) and its start can either be on soft or hard surface. At least two surface changes (gravel, concrete, black-top etc.) must occur.d) 40 minutes time limit for successful trail completion.URBAN MASTERThe track/traila) The trail will be 1’000-1’500m with minimum three turns.b) The age of the trail will be 4 hours old.c) The trail must be in an urban area (residential area, school, busy industrial estate, etc.) and its start can either be on soft or hard surface. At least two surface changes (gravel, concrete, black-top etc.) must occur.d) 50 minutes time limit for successful trail completion.GAK9 Field Trainer-Red Rocker under patchGAK9 Rural Trainer-Silver Rocker under PatchGAK9 Suburban Trainer-Gold Rocker under patchGAK9 Urban Trainer-Blue on black Rocker under patchGAK9 Police Trainer-Blue on black Rocker under patchGAK9 Military Trainer-OD Green Rocker under patch
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