Beware Of Dog Public Employees Trained In Fending Off Attacks

Knees began to wobble. Knots formed in stomachs.

It was time for animal-control officers, police and public utility employees to apply the skills they had learned Tuesday during four hours of dog attack prevention and survival training.

They were about to come arm to fangs with the chomping end of a muscular pit bull aptly named Grip - an exercise that would end the seminar. A burlap sleeve offered their only protection.

“She will bite the sleeve. She has no interest in your legs,” said instructor Diane Jessup, unable to keep a mischievous laugh from slipping out. “Trust me.”

Post Falls police Sgt. Scot Haug organized the training in response to the increasing number of aggressive dogs that area police and animal-control officers have encountered recently.

Jessup’s course gives officers who confront dangerous dogs the knowledge to defend themselves, plus information to pass on to citizens who ask how to respond when approached by an aggressive dog, Haug said.

“It seems like more and more we’re handling dog bite cases,” Haug said.

He asked Jessup to speak after hearing of a similar presentation she put on in Western Washington. The Olympia animal control officer travels throughout the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and the United Kingdom to conduct 12 dog bite workshops a year.

Topics she covers include psychology of dangerous dog ownership, the impact of fad ownership and tactical techniques for severe dog attack prevention and survival. Severe attack scenarios are part of the training.

About 15 agencies, including police or animal control officers from Coeur d’Alene, Rathdrum, Post Falls, Spokane, Meridian, Idaho, and West Yellowstone, Mont., participated in Tuesday’s seminar.

“They need to know how to read a dog real quickly and size up the owner’s behavior - whether or not they’re taking it seriously,” Jessup said.

Enter Grip, the hard-charging, 3-year-old pit bull.

The well-behaved, playful pooch was chosen over representatives of other stereotypically dangerous breeds such as the Rottweiler or chow because of its people skills.

The pit bull is one of the few breeds that is “calm and friendly with people and aggressive when it needs to be,” Jessup said.

Scott Lantz was the first to test Grip’s temperament, offering his left arm as bait.

“You don’t even feel it,” said Lantz, a Billings, Mont., animal control officer, as the dog clamped on his arm.

Residential appraiser Lona Hoogland stepped forward minutes later. Hoogland has spent four years with the Bonner County assessor’s office and thought Jessup’s class would be a good way to prepare for her first year of field work.

“I’ve had a few exciting moments,” Hoogland said. “I carry dog biscuits.”

She nervously held out her left arm and braced for a jolt when the dog snatched her arm.

“That’s the one thing I wanted to be ready for - the impact,” Hoogland said.

Becky Nelson, a Spokane County animal control officer, also was unsure what to expect.

“Once she gets into this business,” Nelson said, shaking her head back and forth, “that could throw you off balance. Fortunately with this dog you know she likes the sleeve.”

Jessup concurred.

“Our biggest joke is you don’t wear a burlap turtleneck to my house,” Jessup said.

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