Sophomore Jon Pearson has a job that people would not expect from a high school student. He trains dogs in the Pearson family’s business “Performance Kennels.” Performance Kennels trains the dogs for patrol, drug detection, and bomb detection.
When Pearson was old enough he didn’t really have a choice in whether he helped trained the dogs or not.
“I was born in the family and then I started one time, I don’t remember when and I liked it, so I stayed with it,” said Pearson
The dogs are purchased before they are trained and begin training when they are 10-14 months old. It takes 9-12 weeks to train the dogs for patrol and drug detection, while it takes about 14 to train for bomb detection. The dogs he uses are German Shepherds for patrol otherwise they are “sporting breeds” like golden retrievers and labs.
“[For training dogs for bombs] You put the powder in a little can and you tell them to smell it, and once you can tell they smell it, you make them sit and you give them a ball, or a treat,” said Pearson. “After they get it you start to hide the can and make them find it.”
To train the dogs for drug detection, it’s the same principle, except using drugs instead of bomb materials.
For patrol it’s a little bit different to train the dogs. Jon needs to train them to bite someone.
“You use a tug, and you tug them, they think its fun and they want to bite you. Then you get a sleeve, same thing but on your arm, and then you run away [and have them chase you],” said Pearson. “It’s fun to run away from them and feel them bite, as long as it doesn’t go through the sleeve.”
Once the dogs are trained they send them to police departments or other places like the military. They have sent dogs all over the country, including some in Canada. But for dogs that they sell to the military, the retirement age is five years. One dog was going to go to Afghanistan but it was four and a half so by the time it started duty there, it would have been too old.
It’s tough not to get connected to animals that you’ve been around for a long time, but Pearson has learned to not build a relationship and not get too attached to the dogs. “I learned not to get connected because they go away,” said Pearson.
