Winter 2009Volume 1, Issue 1

At this year’s IPWDA National Workshop two things

became fairly clear. First, it appears that members are

quite happy with their complimentary K-9 Cop Magazine.

The periodical is doing a wonderful job of providing train-

ing, legal, and medical information in a dynamic way.

Secondly, there was a feeling among most that with

the departure of the IPWDA Journal that communication

between the organization and the membership has suf-

fered. As always, the organization wants members to

feel connected to their organization.

The IPWDA E-newsletter is being created to fill in

the gaps.

The newsletter is an attempt to keep you up to speed

on member and organization activity. It’s not meant to be

a comprehensive training magazine of a re-creation of

what you’ll find at www.ipwda.org

If you have any news or information to pass on please

send it my way. The newsletter will only be as good as

the information

that is being

sent in.

We do not

plan on stuffing

your inbox with

lots of junk to

ignore. The

newsletter should be in your inboxes 2-4 times a year.

The organization will also send out periodic reminders or

news (membership renewal time, specific events, etc.).

The goal is that if you see something in your inbox from

IPWDA that its worth opening up!

The e-news letter will only be going to members that

have provided a valid email address when filling out their

membership forms. Feel free to forward the newsletter

to someone that may have missed out.

Welcome!

IPWDA has historically produced an in-house web site

for its members. Many thanks to Antoinette Steely and

Bruce Quinn for their countless uncompensated volunteer

hours spent in creating and maintaining the web site over

the years.

The Executive Board felt the website was important

enough to seek outside expert help. The organization has

elected to contract out with a professional web-site de-

signer to revamp the organization’s web site. The designer

is also being contracted to update and maintain the site.

If you haven’t looked at the website lately take a look,

we’re hoping you’ll like what you see.

There are many ideas for the website that are being

kicked around that will assist the organization and mem-

bers. The ideas will gradually be implemented and please

be patient while the transition is made.

MT Ken Kelleher and MT Larry Culbert are the contact

points for anyone that has any input on the web site tran-

sition.

Web site information Things you’ll find at www.ipwda.org: Contact information for your executive board. List of Trainers and Master Trainers and their contact

information Upcoming Events Membership information and form. Ability to pay for

membership on the web through paypal. Archives of training articles and legal material. Complete IPWDA Bylaws Complete IPWDA Certification rules Complete IPWDA Accreditation rules More stuff being added

Each year at the National the Executive Board and

general membership go through the Bylaws and Certifi-

cation rules and vote on proposed changes.

The changes that were made underwent careful

analysis and debate. If you have input for additional

proposed changes I’d encourage you to discuss the mat-

ter with an executive board member and appear at a Na-

tional event to provide your input. I also chair the by-

laws committee, so feel free to call or email me if you

have additional ideas or need clarification.

Full copies of both the bylaws and certification rules

are available at www.ipwda.org.

Here are the “cliff notes” version of the important

changes that members should be aware of:

Patrol, Narcotic, and Explosive Certifications issued

after 10-23-09 are valid for one year.

Indemnification. The International Police Work Dog

Association shall to the fullest extent permitted by

law indemnify persons performing services expressly

for the corporation…

Proof of a Criminal Records History Check shall be

required for Civilian Search and Rescue Handlers in

order to be sponsored by for membership. (had pre-

viously required negative NCIC check). Associate

members now will submit at $15 fee annually to the

organization, who will conduct the background check

for the applicant.

Return of property. At any time upon request of the

Association any member or former member shall re-

turn promptly to the Association any and all records,

files, blanks, forms, materials, supplies, or any other

materials furnished, used, or generated during the

course of membership. All copies of the same shall

also be surrendered upon request of the organiza-

tion.

The Board of Trustees shall now consist of two (2)

regular members, instead of the previous 4.

Ethics Chairperson is the new title of the former

Grievance Chairperson. Evidence Searches is the

new title of the former Article Searches.

Master Trainers, Trainers, and Instructors must

renew membership by April 1st or will have their

accreditation suspended.

Codified the order of business at the association’s

meetings.

Guidelines for State Sanctioned Workshops or

Seminars are to be created by the Treasurer and

followed by parties hosting an IPWDA event.

Developed specific language to handle waiver re-

quests for specific portions of accreditation re-

quirements.

Codified the ability to adopt different certification

standards when testing in foreign countries, using

the National Standards of the host country.

Changes in aggression control certification language.

The test now clearly spells out that the dog must

remain with the handler on the first gunshot. The

second gunshot is fired as the dog approaches.

There was also an addition of aggressive movement

by the decoy towards the dog during this phase.

Area searches and Building Search requirements now

include:

1. Those testing must now be dressed in full duty

gear.

2. Those testing must use a “Redman” style gun.

3. Proper tactics must be used during certification

searches

Search and rescue instructor accreditation require-

ments developed.

Full details of each of the changes can be found in the

full bylaws and rules. Those preparing for a certifica-

tion in aggression, buildings, or area searches should

read through the certification requirements and make

sure that they clearly understand the changes.

Page 2

Publisher: Mark Mathis

Contact: mmathis@ipwda.org, 616-456-4661

Bylaw and Certification Rules Changes from National

Greetings, hope this finds you well.

We had an excellent seminar in Fayetteville this year as the

Cumberland County Sheriff rolled out the red carpet and M/T

Tim Loughman and T Joe Salisbury were great hosts.

It’s been almost a year since we switched newsletters and we

stated when we did, we would evaluate it and be open to making

additional changes based upon feedback. Well, the membership

has spoken in Fayetteville and aboard. Many had desired a more

personal publication from their organization. I hope the elec-

tronic e-mail newsletter, along with k9 Cop magazine, will provide

the membership with the best of both worlds.

Again, Mark and I call upon you to write and send photos and

articles of interest to mark at his stated e-mail for insertion and

to give his "creative mind" some rest.

Also on the communications front the Executive Board de-

cided that we needed to get some paid help in redesigning and

maintaining the web. Check out the website. I'm so excited and I

hope you will be to. While there, please check the training semi-

nars for date, locations and cost. Hopefully we will see you at one

of them.

We have some things that have surfaced since the E-Board

meeting that we believe should be added or changed to the ac-

creditation processes. Stay tuned as we'll post them once we

have them totally researched and defined! Any ideas that you

the members have or would like address, please send them to an

E-Board member.

The Elections were held this year in Fayetteville at the na-

tional seminar. I want to thank you for your vote of confidence in

my re-election. I appreciate it and hopefully continue to lead

your orginization in a positive forward motion.

A lot of other business was con-

ducted at the National. Mark high-

lighted the changes in a brief sum-

mation in this newsletter. I’m really

excited and grateful to have had

added the accreditation of IN-

STRUCTOR for our associate mem-

bers in SAR.

We are receiving a lot of inquir-

ies from members of other associa-

tions about becoming members of

IPWDA. I believe it’s because of

the great membership, your elected

leadership, progressive thinking, and

a very strict dedication to keeping

the association’s standards set to

the highest possible level in the K-9

profession.

We continue to grow and it

shows in all reports from the mem-

bership to the treasuries, which

indicate that progress is being made

yearly.

Congrats to the newly accred-

ited Trainers and Master Train-

ers, they earned it!!

Our sincere heartfelt thanks

go out to our volunteer webmaster

Bruce Quinn. Bruce stepped up

and assumed the website when we

were in dire need of assistance.

Now, Bruce has new commitments

at work, home, and family and we

understand his time is very limited.

I have spoke to associate member Janelle Hideg from Ohio.

She stated that Ohio SAR members just conducted a workshop

with approximately 60 attendees and that it was a success.

Don’t forget the Texas workshop in Feb-Mar 2010. Host

Frank Bellino and the “Bear” County Sheriff’s office are working

very hard in organizing such a big and demanding event. Frank

stated that he was expecting 100-125 teams. So check the web

site for information and get your early registration in. See y’all in

Texas.

Please e-mail Mark Mathis with any information that you

would like to share with the membership. He has stated that he

will try to get these e-mails out 2-4 times a year.

On behalf of the Executive Board and our families, we wish

you and your family a very happy, safe and wonderful holiday sea-

son.

Stay safe,

Rick

Page 3

Publisher: Mark Mathis

Contact: mmathis@ipwda.org, 616-456-4661

President’s Message

Page 4

Publisher: Mark Mathis

Contact: mmathis@ipwda.org, 616-456-4661

Member News

Indiana—

The newly

expanded

ISP K-9 Unit

is up to 30

members.

From

January

2009 to September 2009 the Unit

has been involved in 990 arrests.

The dogs have found 1,171 POUNDS

of marijuana, 58 pounds of cocaine, 8

pounds of heroin, and 14 pounds of

methamphetamine.

The dogs have also helped to gen-

erate $794,198 in seizures.

The ISP program should be excel-

lent inspiration for others consider-

ing an expansion of their program.

The partial year numbers show

the significant dent that dedicated

teams can have on tar-

geted offenses.

Keep up the great

work!

Please extend congrats to our new Trainers and Master Trainers, who all received

accreditation at the 2009 Nationals: Corporal Brian C. Fleig; Anne Arundel County Police, MD; Trainer - Utility & Explosives

Officer Vincent Moy; MBTA Transit Police, MA; Trainer - Utility & Narcotic

Sergeant Mike Sosa; MBTA Transit Police, MA; Master Trainer—Utility and Narcotic

Officer John Ivey: Metro Police Department, TX Master Trainer—Utility and Narcotic

Michigan—Lapeer

County’s K-9

Drago, handled by

Deputy Mike Tap-

pen, died in Octo-

ber from cancer

related causes.

Michigan—Three

Rivers’ K-9 Anjia,

handled by Offi-

cer Matt Stark,

died in October

from an auto-

immune related

disease.

Cost with lodging: Members $300, Non-Members $345

Cost without lodging: Members $225, Non-Members $270

Includes: 3 meals per day, welcome night, banquet, awards.

Training includes: ATF&E NORT Testing, intro to peroxide based

odors, intro to other new odors, IPWDA Certifications, Federal

Certifications, scenarios, classroom instruction, problem solving.

Why us?: 5th annual and perhaps largest EDD seminar in the

United States. Top instructors. Capped at 85 teams. Effort to

minimize down time. Wide cross section of attendees.

Contact: MT Dick Sheehy at 508-224-8596 (rns910@aol.com)

MT Larry Culbert at 617-908-2186 (lculbert@ipwda.org)

Full sign up details being posted at: WWW.IPWDA.ORG

2010 IPWDA EDD Seminar. May 2nd to May 7th.

5th Annual international event. Camp Edwards; Bourne, MA

All inclusive (lodging, meals, training). Costs $225-$345.

Top EDD training event with varied offerings and attendees.

Contacts: MT Dick Sheehy at 508-224-8596, MT Larry Cul-

bert at 617-908-2186, or rns910@aol.com

Full details at www.ipwda.org.

2010 IPWDA Texas State Workshop. Feb 28th—March 5th.

San Antonio, TX

Varied Offerings for Patrol, Narcotic, EDD, SAR Dogs.

Hosted by Bexar County Sheriff’s K-9 Unit.

Cost $275.

Contact Frank Bellino at 210-335-5014 or fbellino@bexar.org

Full details at www.ipwda.org.

Page 8

Publisher: Mark Mathis

Contact: mmathis@ipwda.org, 616-456-4661

2010 National Workshop—Plan now!

9-12-10 to 9-17-10

Grayling Michigan, National Guard Base

Cost $350 members, $395 non-members

Included: lodging, food, banquet, supplies,

training facilities, hospitality room, door

prizes, seminar shirt, K-9 Cop Magazine.

Patrol

Narcotic

Explosive

SAR

Quick Facts

This is different than other seminars

that you have attended.

Training is divided into two hours blocks,

and handlers select from numerous possi-

ble offerings in each block.

Certifications, scenarios, hands on “skills

stations”, and classrooms are offered on

most blocks.

You are in charge of designing your own

seminar — last year we had 68 offerings

for handlers to choose from. Run 13 sce-

narios, learn high level skills, solve basic

problems, attend classrooms, certify. It’s

all up to you.

Unique seminar that by design virtually

eliminates all down time.

Why should I attend?

39 critiques were returned from the 2009 event and

handlers rated several items on a 1-100 scale:

Overall training 97.5/100

Downtime 97.3/100

Instructors 98.4/100

Compared to other seminars 98.1/100

Quotes from the critiques show why you should con-

sider this your training event of the year:

“Next time I wouldn’t change a damn thing” KY handler

“Liked the peer-to-peer feeling” MI trainer/handler

“For my skill level the seminar adapted to me.” New

handler from GA

“Down time was minimal and every day seemed to flow

very well” MI handler

“The most useful and well organized seminar I’ve been

to.” “Lots of individual attention” Veteran handler from

Iowa

“Everything was great, don’t make any changes” Vet-

eran MI handler

“Seminar was well organized with a tremendous amount

of options for handlers to choose from.” 30 year K-9

judge and trainer

“Loved the option of choosing what I’d like to attend.

It adapted well to my skill level.” Iowa handler

“Everything that was offered should be offered again”

MI Handler

Feedback from 2009 Seminar

Seminar capped at about 100 attendees. We do anticipate it to be full.

Sign up information available in early 2010 at www.ipwda.org or by calling 616-456-4661

Direct any questions to MT Mark Mathis at ipwda@yahoo.com

Sign up information