Kiah exudes confidence and intelligence

Bernice Clifford, CPDT, director of behavior and training at AFF, reiterates that each dog has to be treated as an individual. They don’t have preconceived ideas about their behavior, appearance or their past. Clifford doesn’t speculate or dwell on their past. Her philosophy is: “Let them be dogs.” It’s this approach that gives dogs like Kiah the opportunity to fulfill their potential.

But some agencies are resistant to the idea of a pit bull, which upsets Croat. Like the usual types of K9 police dog, pit bulls are working dogs and are at their happiest and most productive when working. Universal K9 itself does not breed dogs, and Croft’s own dog is adopted.

It can cost an agency up to $20,000 to buy a dog, and train it and the handler. However, dogs like Kiah that are offered through AFF’s dog detection program, are free. This is very important for a police department that has to be careful about its budget.

So when Bernice Clifford reached out to her local police departments in New York and offered the addition of a K9 pit bull at no cost to the department, the City of Poughkeepsie decided to take Kiah on.

A lot of training goes into a working police dog. Officer Bruzgul undertook 16 weeks of training with Kiah in Texas before graduating with her in November. Since then she’s been on patrol while continuing to work on her skills. In a training session, she’ll do groundwork to detect “articles” such as a small prescription bottle and a tiny bolt, then hold them at bay for her handler. She also detects scent cones, which develop when odors such as body sweat or colognes permeate the air.

For now, Kiah is a patrol dog, but in April she will spend another 6 weeks in training for narcotics detection.The stray dog with a head wound has come a long way and has a bright future ahead of her. This is one pitbull bulldog who has embraced her changes in her life.