DRUGBEAT certifying officials may certify a handler and dog team to any federal, state, department, or agency standard as long as the standard meets or exceeds the DRUGBEAT certification standard for that area of certification.  The qualifying standards must be submitted to the certifying official in advance so they can review and approve the standard to be tested.  Certifying officials will maintain a copy of any standards other than DRUGBEAT standards that are used for certification purposes.

YOU MUST USE REAL DRUGS IN EACH CERTIFICATION.  DRUGBEAT DOES NOT ENDORSE PSEUDO-SCENTS FOR NARCOTICS CERTIFICATION.

TYPE OF NARCOTICS TO BE USED FOR CERTIFICATION

*All K-9s must find 2 separate odors to certify.  Other narcotics are optional to the certifying agent.  The type of narcotic is to be determined prior to the test.  There will be at least one (1) stash of each odor in each area searched.  One of each odor in a building and at least one hide on an automobile.

*This has been updated due to the legalization of marijuana in many states, it is no longer mandatory that marijuana is 1 of the 2 drugs required.

ALERTS

Each handler is responsible for notifying the judges of the type of alert (aggressive or passive) the judge can expect from the K-9.

TIME

There will be a time limit of ten (10) minutes for two (2) narcotic stashes.  The K-9 will be allowed a rest period of 15 minutes, then will resume the searches on the automobile or building.

SEARCH AREA

The search area will consist of at least an inside area and two or more vehicles.  At least one of the vehicles must be blank (contain no odors) and one vehicle must contain a drug odor.  Proofing odors will be hidden in the search areas, and will be marked as so.  Excessively hitting on proofing odors will be an automatic fail. (Clean tennis balls, perfumes, ect.)  The decision of what to use will be up to the certifying agent.  The handler will not watch the test of other teams prior to taking the test.

FAILURE OF CERTIFICATION

The handler will have ninety (90) days to re-certify before additional charges will be assessed. It is the handler’s responsibility to locate a certifying official and set the time, date and travel arrangements for re-certification.

CERTIFYING OFFICIALS

The certifying officials shall be an agent of Drug Beat K-9 Certifications.  There can be more than one of these officials at any certification, but only the main certifying agent shall sign the papers.  All rulings by the certifying officials are final.

QUALIFICATION OF A K-9 HANDLER TO BE CERTIFIED

The handler shall be a law enforcement agent and employed by a law Department and/or an employee of a private security, investigative or detection service licensed within the state they are located in. They must have no less than 40 hours of K-9 Narcotic Detection Training covering K-9 laws and K-9 handling. The handler and K-9 will be certified as a team.

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