PERRY — From building and vehicle searches, to narcotics and explosives detection, to search and rescue, about 70 police dogs and their handlers are putting their skills to the test this week at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter.

The K-9 training seminar, hosted by the Houston County and Dooly County sheriff’s offices, started Monday. The dogs and handlers broke into small groups and were spread out on the fairgrounds and nearby locations for training exercises.

Most of the K-9 teams are from Georgia but some came from Alabama, Florida, South Dakota and South Carolina, said Houston County sheriff’s deputy Richard Mayhew, who helped coordinate the event.

For Mayhew, one of the chief benefits of the seminar is the opportunity to learn from top-notch instructors.

“You get to meet new instructors that you may never have had an opportunity to meet,” Mayhew said.

One such instructor is Chris Vaughn, who heads up the K-9 security unit at the Kennedy Space Center. While Mayhew has trained with Vaughn before, many other handlers had not. Mayhew was putting Parco, a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois, through the paces of off-lead obedience under Vaughn’s watchful eye.

Parco, a full-service patrol dog with training in narcotics detection, vehicle searches, tracking and suspect apprehension, kept close to Mayhew, appearing to hang on his master’s every word. The dog was also keenly alert for non-verbal direction.

The dog, who came to the Houston County Sheriff’s Office about a year ago, is among five agency K-9s, Mayhew said. Two of the other dogs are bloodhounds that specialize in tracking, another is trained to sniff out narcotics and to track, and the fourth is solely trained to detect explosives.

Parco remained muzzled during the training. Mayhew said the K-9 wears the muzzle most of the time so that it is second nature to the dog and it doesn’t heighten his aggressiveness when released to apprehend a suspect. Trained to be aggressive, Parco’s job is to never quit the fight with a suspect unless called off by Mayhew. Mayhew noted that a K-9 is a “tool on the belt” of the law enforcement officer.

“You cannot recall a Taser or pepper spray,” Mayhew noted. “The bad guy picks and chooses whether he’s going to get bit or not.”

Parco is trained to bark and halt, Mayhew said. As long as the suspect remains still, Parco will stay and bark until Mayhew calls him off. One word or non-verbal signal from Mayhew and Parco will apprehend.

Jay Parker, an officer for the Jefferson Police Department, trained Monday with Spike, also a Belgian Malinois. He and the dog have been together for about three months.

“It builds character and partnership with your team,” Park said of the seminar. “It also builds camaraderie with other handlers.”

Parker noted he had already received “tons of instruction” in just the first two hours of the seminar Monday.

Larry Reed, a deputy for the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office, was playing the role of a suspect Monday. He was dressed in a bulky burlap outfit and designed, he said, for the safety of the dog as well as the person inside the outfit. The full-body canvas is one among many training options, Reed noted.

The dogs are also trained with the pretend suspect wearing street clothes with a visible sleeve protection. Sometimes the protective sleeve is placed under the clothing, Reed said. The idea is for the dog not to focus on the full-body canvas, or the sleeve protection, but to focus on the suspect.

Rudy, Reed’s K-9, also a Belgian Malinois, is trained for apprehension and narcotics detection. The Belgian Malinois, German Shepherd and Belgian Shepherd are favored as police dogs in part because the dogs are smart and strong, Reed said.

The starting price for a police dog is about $10,000, Mayhew said. The dogs are also valued by their handlers. While Reed was playing the role of a suspect, Rudy was in the engine-running, air-conditioned police car. Reed noted that the car is equipped with an alarm to protect Rudy from someone approaching the car or if there is a mechanical problem. If the air conditioning stops working, for example, the lights will come on, the windows will automatically go down and the sirens will sound to alert Reed of a problem. The backseat of the police car is specially fitted for the K-9.

“I’m a chauffeur for a Belgian Malinois. That’s my sole purpose in life,” Reed joked.

The training seminar ends Thursday.

To contact writer Becky Purser, call 256-9559.