American Working Dogs

2025 American Working Dogs & Vohne Liche Kennels
K9 Olympics Seminar & Certification Trials

Click here for the 2025 enrollment form

Click here for the 2025 Olympics Liability and Media Waiver form

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Welcome and thank you for showing your interest in American Working Dogs, Inc. Our goal at AWD is to provide a forum for working dog enthusiasts to exchange ideas and opinions on training and utilization, and provide new information for you and your K-9.
American Working Dogs, Inc. is available to assist with any seminar.

 

 

We are more than happy to help you in any way with setting up a seminar. If you would like more information please email us at awdinc@vohneliche.com and we will send our “How To” package. American Working Dogs Certifications are always available during seminars.

The AWD magazine that we publish is packed with exciting articles, updates and seminars available. We are always looking for articles of interest to our readers. If you have written such an article please feel free to email it to our office. The articles in our magazine are written by working dog enthusiasts for working dog enthusiasts.

 

 

This is the latest Release

 

We would greatly appreciate input from all of our members, both positive and negative, on how we are doing. We are committed to making AWD a success with your help. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact us.

If you would like a copy of American Working Dog's latest issue please call or send request to:

American Working Dogs
7953 N. Old Rt. 31
Denver, IN 46926
Phone: 765-985-2274

Please include a payment of $10.00 and we will send a copy to you.

REMEMBER: If you join you receive all issues free for 1 Year in addition to discounts on seminars. If you have questions or comments about American Working Dogs, please feel free to Contact Us by Email. Click here to download Application Form (Adobe PDF) that you can mail to us.

Click here to find a certifying official of American Working Dogs, Inc. in your area.

 

A.W.D. Narcotics

American Working Dogs was founded by handler's throughout the United States and now around the world to offer another practical avenue to certify their K9 teams.

The canine team shall be evaluated by an approved K-9 team evaluator prior to general law enforcement deployment and at least once annually. If the canine team fails the testing, they may re-test after a 24 hour period. Certifications are good for a period of 1 year from the date of testing. Certification Forms and copies of the Certificate are property of AWD and shall be kept on file by AWD

*** Please click here to find an American Working Dogs Certifying Official in your area.***

 

Narcotic Certification Standards

The following standards will be met to acquire the American Working Dog Detection Certification. The certification standards are set forth for the K-9 teams to demonstrate Odor Recognition by the K-9. All teams will be tested in a building and vehicles that has not been used in the past for K-9 training.

 

Narcotics used for Certification:

 

• All K-9’s must find Marijuana, Cocaine, Heroin and Methamphetamine to certify.
• Other narcotics are optional to certify on upon request and availability.
• Other odors shall follow the same quantity amounts accordingly.
  • Marijuana will be no less then ¼ ounce and on more than 2 ounces per hide.
  • Cocaine will be no less than 10 grams and no more than 30 grams per hide.
  • Methamphetamine will be no less than 10 grams and no more than 30 grams per hide.
  • Heroin will be no less than 10 grams and no more than 30 grams per hide.

 

Search Areas & Alerts:

 

• Prior to starting the certification the handler must advise the certifying official if the K-9 is passive or aggressive alert.
• NO Narcotic Scented Rewards are allowed during certification
• The handler must advise the official of a positive indication while the K-9 is showing an obvious response to the odor. The handler can call a positive response by the K-9’s change of behavior. A final response is not required
• The handler will be allowed only one false response during the certification. If the certification is terminated of any reason the team may attempt to recertify after 24 hours.
  • There will be one hide of the above listed narcotics per room. 4 rooms total will be used.
  • Each room shall be no larger than 1000 square feet but must have several items for the K-9 to search. This will be at the discretion of the certifying official.
  • There will be 6 vehicles with 4 hides and 2 blanks. Exterior hides only.

 

CERTIFICATION:

 

The canine team shall be evaluated by an approved K-9 team evaluator prior to general law enforcement deployment and at least once annually. If the canine team fails the testing, they may re-test after a 24 hour period.

 

1. The K9 team evaluator should have a minimum of 4 years’ experience as a law enforcement K-9 handler or a certified law enforcement/military K-9 trainer; and,
2. There Certification must be under the authority of a Police Training Council/Academy or Post.
3. In order to avoid any perceived conflict of interest between the evaluator and the K-9 team, the evaluator cannot certify the team the first time if
   1. They were the primary instructor for the handler or the team.
   2. They were the primary trainer of the dog.
   3. They are the dog’s handler.

 

Certifications are good for a period of 1 year from the date of testing.

Certification Forms and copies of the Certificate are property of AWD and shall be kept on file by AWD

A.W.D. Explosive

American Working Dogs was founded by handler's throughout the United States and now around the world to offer another practical avenue to certify their K9 teams.

The canine team shall be evaluated by an approved K-9 team evaluator prior to general law enforcement deployment and at least once annually. If the canine team fails the testing, they may re-test after a 24 hour period. Certifications are good for a period of 1 year from the date of testing. Certification Forms and copies of the Certificate are property of AWD and shall be kept on file by AWD

*** Please click here to find an American Working Dogs Certifying Official in your area.***

 

Explosive Detection Certification Standards

The Explosive Detection Certification Test will determine the reliability and proficiency of the Canine Team.

 

The Canine Teams will certify in the following areas:

1. Building
2. Vehicles
3. Boxes or Luggage
4. Open Area

The Canine Teams will certify with the following odors:

1. C-4
2. TNT
3. Smokeless Powder
4. Black Powder
5. Sodium
6. Potassium
7. Detonation Cord
8. Anfo
9. Ken-Pac

 

Only 3 certifying odors will be used in each of the certifying areas making sure all odors are used at least one time during the certification in one of the areas. The handler will be notified of the number of aids to locate prior to the start.

The canine team will have 10 minutes to search and locate the aids placed in each area. Once the handler feels that all the aids have been successfully located they may move on to the next testing area and the 10 minute time limit will start over.

The Explosive Aids used for testing will be a minimum of ¼ pound each and there will be no maximum size limit except detonation cord which will be a minimum of 15’ in length with no maximum length.

All aids must be placed 30 minutes prior to testing. The aid will not be hidden in an area where direct contact can be made by the canine.

For certification the canine team can not miss any of the aids placed in any of the testing areas. They must successfully locate all nine (9) odors to pass.



The canine team can only have one (1) non-productive response during the certification. After the second the certification will be terminated.

The canine handler is required to identify and call out a positive alert by the canine.

Building searches can consist of one large room or several smaller rooms to search but the boundaries of the entire search area must be shown to the handler prior to the start. The handlers will not be informed of the non-productive or blank areas within the boundaries of the search. At least one area will be left blank and free of aids.

Vehicle searches will have a minimum of six (6) vehicles and a maximum of ten (10) to be searched. Only 3 aids will be placed, one per vehicle. The handler will not be advised of the non-productive or blank vehicles. The handlers shall avoid allowing the canines to put there paws on or jumping on the vehicles unless the certifying official directs you to an area of a vehicle that is allowed such as larger vehicles, trailers or truck beds. In most cases the aids will not be placed high enough where the canine will have to jump up onto the vehicles.

Luggage and box searches will have a minimum of 10 articles and a maximum of 20 articles to be searched. There will be one (1) Aid placed in an article. Three (3) productive articles in this test. Non-productive articles will not be shown to the handlers prior to the search. Articles will be placed so the canine team has room to move around each article. The handler can not touch any of the articles before or during the canine search.

Open Area searches can be tested in Industrial, Wooded or Residential Areas with a search environment with ample area between the three (3) aids placed. The aids will not be placed any higher then six (6) feet above the ground and no more then one (1) foot below the grounds surface. If the weather or the environment is determined by the certifying official to be a hazard the open area search can be considered an optional search but must be noted in the canine teams certifying records.

The certification will be terminated and the canine team will NOT certify if at any time the canine becomes aggressive toward the aid or gives an aggressive response. The ruling of the certifying official is final.

The certification will be valid for one (1) year for the date of issuance.

All certification records will be kept on file and are the property of American Working Dog.

If you fail to certify you may attempt to certify again in 30 days.