Working Like Dogs

Written by Charlie Durgin

It’s not too hard to spot guide dogs in Kern County.

With their brightly-colored working vests and differently-abled human partners close by, these dogs are strong symbols of man’s profound relationship with the dog.

But they aren’t the only dogs on the clock in Kern County. Our canine friends are punching time cards in some very interesting professions...ones you might never have heard of, and ones you will definitely be in awe of.

The Best Hunting Buddy You’ll Ever Have

Just between Wasco and the I-5, Brian Clasby trains Labrador retrievers to hunt.

“What makes a good trainer of any dog is the ability to read the dog,” Clasby says. “You have to adapt your intensive training methods to each dog.”

And Clasby does. It’s something that comes easy after his previous career.

Clasby worked as a flooring contractor in the Los Angeles area for several years, but lost patience after finding that it was hard to hire good help.

“I got tired of dealing with all the heavy drinkers and partiers that just weren’t dependable,” he says.

What the labor pool in the San Fernando Valley was lacking, is clearly present in the dogs in his kennels. For one thing, they don’t have substance abuse issues; their only addiction is work and birds. For another, they work so hard, and with such enthusiasm, that Clasby must stay alert to warning signs of fatigue lest they make themselves ill.

With around 15 Labradors in his kennel at a time, patience and organization are a must. But each dog has its own personality and demands. They also have room to play. Clasby trains the dogs on a huge spread of land at the California Retriever Training Association’s Goose Lake Property.

Clasby’s dogs will find and retrieve upland game birds like quail and pheasant. They will retrieve ducks from freezing waters, and do it with a smile. And they will perform obedience drills as if they are being operated by remote control...for a price in the neighborhood of $3,000.

The price may sound steep, but you can expect 12 years of life with the dog, which breaks down to about $25 a month or $300 a year for the best hunting buddy you’ve ever had.

And for that these dogs get undivided attention from Clasby and a piping hot session of work in the field finding birds, training dummies, and retrieving them with gusto.

“I get invited on all kinds of interesting hunts because people want to hunt with my dogs,” Clasby chuckles. “Probably more than they want to hunt with me.”

The Perfect Cop?

Being a police dog is hard work. And it starts with getting out of the car.

“From their standpoint and height, jumping out of the back of the police car to the ground is like a man jumping off a six foot chain link fence. And they get in and out of the car maybe 15 times a day,” K9 Officer Jason Matson said.

And that’s the easy part.

The Bakersfield Police Department (BPD) has several German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois deployed as patrol dogs. They do drug detection and patrol work, while Labs perform only drug detection.

They’re so trained by using toys scented with narcotic signatures.

“The dog doesn’t realize that drugs have ruined our society,” says Sgt. Marvin Johnson of the BPD’s K9 team. “The dog just associates the smell of narcotics with playtime.”

The department also has a Bloodhound that gets a lot of work finding lost persons.

The patrol dogs in the department are worth over $10,000 a piece. Fortunately for taxpayers, they are purchased with seized criminal funds and are well-worth the expense.

Working dogs are animals and not machines, so they are limited by things like exhaustion, hunger, and boredom. The problem is, they can’t speak English. So it’s up to the officer to live up to his part of the bargain. He must be the watchdog of the watchdog.

It’s no surprise that animal and handler become attached. At the dog’s retirement from public service, the officer has the option of buying the dog from the city for one dollar, and then he assumes all liability for the highly specialized dog. He also assumes ownership of one of the world’s finest watchdogs and bodyguards.

The officers know who gets the best end of the deal, though.

“It’s the best assignment in the department,” K9 officer Jeremy Blakemore said.

A Different Kind of Guide Dog

Local therapist Cathy Elder has found that dogs can lead a group of special needs children through the heart. Since 1990, she’s been proving that the dog isn’t just man’s best friend. It can be the best friend of a child who’s been through the worst kinds of emotional and physical abuse. Or a child with autism who doesn’t have the type of social skills that are met with great response on the playground.

“These are children who didn’t reach out and make friends easily, but they have a common bond over the dogs,” she said.

“Using therapy dogs takes away the scariness factor these kids feel,” she said. “It doesn’t seem like a doctor’s appointment,” she added, because during the course of treatment, she’ll have the child communicate and interact with the dog, instead of directly to her. This can be crucial for children too scared to discuss a traumatic incident.

And for some autistic children, this type of therapy instills confidence in them as they teach the dog skills, in addition to teaching them about physical affection.

When a child feels they have no influence over themselves, or the world they live in, the structure and discipline that comes from pet ownership can be the key to growth.

Especially with autistic children. Order is vital.

“Children with autism can find comfort in the office since it never changes—the decorations, who is there, the dogs, all of it is consistent,” Elder said.

“My son wasn’t crazy about receiving hugs,” one happy mother said, “but since he got the Chihuahua, he’s been a lot better about it.”

These types of stories are similar for other families in Bakersfield and Elder is quick to commend her longtime co-worker, Roanna Banducci with making that possible. Banducci helps select and train the dogs that work with children. Her work includes a vetting process to make sure the dogs are absent of aggression and cut out for the special demands of therapy work. She gets them ready to interact with small children, and teaches them basic commands in German, giving clients the added bonus of learning a new language.

Some students teach their pets more advanced tricks, like one whose Chihuahua jumps through hoops to make her happy. Literally.

Underneath it all, the dogs serve as a vehicle for the daily help Elder seeks to give children and the advice she wants to pass along to their parents.

“We want parents to understand that these kids all know when they do something wrong, but they need to know when they do something right,” Elder said.

Article appeared in our 26-2 Issue - June 2009