CDFW K9 Training

September 7, 2023

Question: Do fish and wildlife canines receive different training than traditional law enforcement canine officers?

Answer: California Peace Officer Standards of Training establishes direction for training and certification guidelines for all of California’s police canines. CDFW’s canines meet and exceed those guidelines. CDFW canines perform traditional law enforcement in canine roles but are also excellent at tracking, locating people that are fleeing from the police, individuals who are lost or missing or helping locate persons of interest. In addition to tracking skills, department canines are trained in traditional odor detections such as narcotics. CDFW canine teams are also trained to locate firearms ammunition and, depending on their assignment, a long list of odors created from various fish and wildlife. CDFW has canine teams across the state targeting species of concern or species that are hidden to avoid detection such as abalone, ivory, lobster, bear, sturgeon, deer, squirrel, invasive quagga mussel and many more. CDFW canines have also been deployed in warehouses, vehicles, recreational and commercial fishing boats, and open areas to locate specific species of fish and wildlife.

I heard the K9s can distinguish all the different species of rockfish.