dlers who were only too happy to assist. I witnessed presentations of various dogs throughout the day, which included drug detection, explosives, tobacco, cash and conservation dogs. At the end of this day I had made up my mind that I wanted to train and qualify as a Drug Detection Handler. Walking With the Wounded started negotiations with Wagtail and sourced the funds required to attend this course. Throughout, Wagtail couldn’t do enough to support this process and eventually I was booked on the Level 3 Dual Purpose Drug Detection course, where I was allocated a professional instructor. This course was 3 weeks long and was very intensive. Throughout, I gained as much knowledge as I could possibly obtain and put theory into practice. Wagtail organised live operations with local police forces and a large manufacturing plant, who I was entrusted to work independently with. This was fantastic and gave me much more of an insight into handling outside the classroom environment. As I opted to go self-employed, I required a dog and as I am somewhat inexperienced, it made sense to acquire a trained detection dog. Wagtail procured a dog for me and advised me of the most suitable dog for me. Eventually I was teamed up with a black Labrador called Widgeon. Wagtail identified her potential and spent several months producing an effective working dog, training her to detect all substances that I requested. She can now detect the presence of Cannabis resin/bush, Cocaine, Crack cocaine, MDMA, Heroin, Methamphetamine, Amphetamine, Ketamine and Methadrone. Having completed my reteam with Widgeon, it was less than a week before myself and Widgeon would be put to the test. I was offered employment by Security Facilities and Support and tasked to work Cheltenham Festival. On the busiest day some 86,000 people attended. Each day saw a consistent number of attendees throughout the four day period. This was a mammoth task for a green handler and dog team. However, it soon became evident that we were both up to the task. We secured many operational finds to include Cannabis bush, Cannabis grinders, cannabis cigarettes, cocaine, crack cocaine, MDMA and ketamine. I received very good feedback from the organisers and this has paved the way for what I believe will be a long and successful career opportunity. I have finally found after all these years that I now have a sense of purpose and this has helped me establish my place in the civilian world. Wagtail UK Ltd || www.wagtailuk.com|| +44(0) 1745 561166 11
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