Takedown by Toronto police dog

 

 

 

Toronto Police staff Sgt. Max Carter of Toronto’s Police Dog Services unit is standing with me in the middle of a fenced-in area of grass at 44 Beechwood Dr. in East York.

“I can tell you are getting nervous,” he says. His tone is soothing and supportive, but he is obviously entertained.

Nervous is right.

I’ve been squeezed into a padded safety suit used to train police dogs to take down suspects, usually by grabbing them by the arm to pull them off their feet.

This morning I am the suspect.

My reason for meeting with police is to learn more about dog behaviour in a variety of different scenarios.

I do not expect to ever tangle with Toronto Police or their highly trained canines on the street, but I did want to know what it felt like to be taken off my feet by a large dog.

Despite my plans to resist arrest, I cut about as fearsome a figure as an obese kid in a snowsuit. My black helmet is held on with a chin strap, my face is covered by a long plastic visor. I can bend my arms but I can’t use my hands. Staff Sgt. Carter has to pinch a mosquito off my cheek.

When I called police to explain the project, I'd requested a spin in the suit and was looking forward to the experience.

My pulse is pretty steady until Sgt. Jim Adamson walks his 38-kilogram German shepherd Sonik onto the field.

I’ve met Sonik before, even spent a day with him and his human partner prepping for a feature celebrating the unit’s 20^th anniversary.

He is a beautiful dog with a wildly friendly disposition and giant brown eyes set into a head that would fit neatly on a mid-sized bear.

I have never felt an ounce of fear around him.

I am not afraid now, just very, very aware of his size.

Sonik knows exactly what is about to happen.

He sniffs me up and down and locks eyes with me until I am forced to look away.

My visor is steaming up.

At Adamson’s command – he yells at me that he wants to talk to me then tells me to stand still – I try to bolt.

The suit weights about 13.5 kilograms, but even at a full sprint it is unlikely a criminal would have much of a chance to get away.

Sonik is on my right arm in seconds, pulling me towards the ground. My instinct is to pull away and I am rewarded with a sharp yank that makes my feet blow out behind me and I land flat on my chest.

For a second he is toying with a piece of fabric near the back of my neck. No one has to remind me to lie still.

The second take-down is a bit smoother. This time I know how to crumple onto my side. I become less relaxed when the dog starts to drag me across the field.

My final two waddles with Sonik involve trainer defence.

That means I have to “hit” Sgt. Adamson to provoke the dog to come after me.

My first swat is pathetic (you try taking a swing at a police officer on cue), but the dog is delighted to take me down regardless.

The second time I get in a slightly bigger swing and am rewarded with another wipe-out on the grass.

“You need boxing lessons,” teases Sgt. Adamson.

Consider myself assigned.

Learn more about it: www.torontopolice.on.ca/mountedpds/

P.S. Thanks to the Star's Robyn Doolittle for the awesome camera work....and for laughing the entire time. Also, thanks to the Star's multi-media crew for cutting it up and putting it together.

 

Comments

[Frederick Harrison]

OK here's a scenario that has happened to me.

I was slowly riding my bike past a person and their dog when the dog lunged at me and snapped at my leg. Fortunately it was a medium sized dog and his teeth only scraped my leg but didn't lacerate the flesh, tearing my pant leg instead. The owner rebuked him - but did not apologize or make an offer of restitution for the tear in my pants.

Which got me thinking...

What if it was a larger dog - say a rotweiler or pit bull? Given the temperment, weight, and jaw strength of these breeds it is quite likely that I would be lying on the road with my legs intertwined with the bike frame and thus unable to assume the turtle position. I'm also likely to be bleeding from the inevitable scrapes where my body has met with the pavement, possibly even suffering a broken bone or two. My helmet will shield my head but I'm at risk of being run over if there is any traffic behind me and being mauled by the dog if I am too dazed by the fall to protect myself.

I posit this scenario because I had the experience of walking through a schoolyard with a high chain link fence separating the schoolyard from the backyards of its neighbours when a large rotweiler suddenly lunged at me from the other side of the fence without warning. The size, weight, and velocity of the beast bent the fence like it was a trampoline but fortunately it held. Moreover, the height at which the dog met the fence was around four feet - chest height.