Canine Welfare

Ensuring Comprehensive Canine Care for Our Working Dogs

The safety, security and well-being of our canines are principle priorities for Constellis. We take great care in training our canines and treat every dog with the respect and dignity they deserve.

K9 Nutrition

Overall wellness and preventative care

Our dogs are fed a well-balanced diet according to veterinary recommendations for maintaining high energy, joint health and immune system function. AMK9 maintains up-to-date health certifications for each working dog and immediate veterinary access during training and utilization.

K9 Training

At a minimum, our training will achieve the following:

Canine and handler safety to reduce accidents and unsafe acts;
Canine welfare to include grooming, sanitation, disease control, identification of internal and external parasites, symptoms of illness and disease, administering medications, first aid, conducting canine Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), feeding, and disinfection of equipment;
Canine nutrition and physical conditioning to optimize canine performance including proper kenneling to ensure the canine is well rested;
Behavioral terms and definitions, identifying the canine’s basic needs, and describing the canine’s various sensing systems;
Basic obedience and handling of the canine to include instruction on the need for canine rapport, leash manipulation, using verbal and physical commands and cues;
Canine training in various obedience commands and explanation of the necessity for such commands;
Use of best techniques and patterns to search cargo, mail, open areas, vehicles, buildings, freight, luggage and optional areas such as maritime vessels and aircraft;
Explosives and chemical safety to ensure the handler understands the various types of explosives used in training detector dogs and specific safe handling procedures;
Explosives and chemical handling instruction on the proper and safe handling, packaging, transporting and placement of explosive training aids, including procedures to reduce contamination of explosive training aids and environmental contamination;
Proper documentation of canine training and records to increase reliability, data collection, identify training deficiencies and track corrective actions.

Fitness-for-duty

Constellis working dogs are trained using Operant Conditioning, or positive reinforcement, where the dog is incentivized to perform during a simulated scenario. This method has been proven to be the most efficient training technique in the industry, ensuring peak performance in the field.

K9 detection training is conducted in our state-of-the-art facilities and overseen by renowned industry-intelligent trainers.

K9 Enrichment

Dedicated indoor training facility

Our 100,000 square-foot indoor training space encompasses a TSA-approved operational cargo warehouse and real-world scenario compounds including a cargo facility, classrooms, conference rooms, warehouses, hotels, entry control points and various simulated venues.

State-of-the-art kennel

Constellis maintains a 150-run indoor/outdoor climate-controlled kennel on site at our Moyock, NC, training facility in addition to a fully operational Level III Veterinarian Clinic.