07/21/2026
A message from our leadership team:
“We as an industry need to be better. There is nothing worse than watching another group, association, company, or handler tear another person down in order to highlight or promote themselves. As a nationally accredited trade school we feel it’s on us as a body to add to the industry by education and constructive conversations. As with any professional trade there’s always a difference of opinion. There’s different methodologies and view points. Barring something that is patently dangerous or abusive to animals we as a collective need to be better at finding out the entire story behind something before rushing to judgement or using your supposed professional opinion to tear down another handler. It is beyond disrespectful what this entity, International Casino & Resort Working Dog Association, did in a recent post, taking a video that a fan at a FIFA game took of a contract K9 handler because they thought it was great seeing the K9s working, and twisting that in to a post that bashed not just the company but also the handler, referring to him as a clown and to not be “that company” as if they are the moral authority of all things right and good in this industry. They rushed to judgment without understanding any of the backstory behind the handler or the situation. Had they taken the time to do any of that they would have found out that the reason the handler was in a protective vest was because that particular entry point had just been over run by fans rushing the checkpoint and the client requested a higher profile as an added deference. As to the helmet, that is part of a bigger system that involves an integrated camera and communication system that the handler has been trying out with the intention of training the dog to work off-leash in low accessibility areas while the handler is able to monitor what the dog is seeing and control him via the internal comms system. They would have also found out that the handler was a combat wounded veteran who spends his off time and personal money trying to perfect equipment for special uses. Not only that but you’d have also found that the handler is certified through our group as one of our graduates and also recently passed the UPWDA certification as well.
Several of us tried to have a civil discourse on the original post but ICRWDA opted to instead delete and block the majority of those disagreeing with them or not joining in the dog pile of those trashing the handler. There was pushback as to whether using this type of gear should be used “on the clock” and that it takes away and drags the rest of the private sector K9 field down. I challenge you as an “authority on K9 training” to find any sort of environment that can replicate the environmental stressors of a FIFA game in the training side. I’d also like to know what part of this is taking away from anything the K9 industry is doing. Had the gear in question prevented the dog from working then we’d agree it’s not the place but that wasn’t the case.
Shame on you as an entity that is supposed to be an independent association that certifies and vets handlers for their workability. The only thing that has detracted from any part of the K9 industry is this baseless attack which at best is bullying and at worst is self promotion at the expense of others. If your intentions in the post were completely altruistic why have you been rewriting the post and deleting/blocking comments you don’t agree with? The industry needs better… and in this instance you failed them.
