Police dog demonstrates tracking, protection skills during Grayslake demonstration

Children's eyes opened wide as they watched Riggs, a powerful-looking German shepherd, bare his teeth before attacking Alex Rothacker at the Grayslake Public Library.

It was all part of a demonstration by Rothacker, owner of TOPS dog training facility, as he wore a specially designed arm glove to withstand the attack.

More than 50 people attended Tuesday's program to learn about the training regimen for police dogs and to understand how some techniques could be applied to teaching their own pets.

“This is so people understand what a K-9 is. Everyone always thinks that it is a biting dog, but that is only 1 percent of what it does,” Rothacker said. “This is a very fascinating thing to take a dog that has no training and there is so much to build up a dog to the point where he is. That's what you teach people, that it takes time and patience.”

Wheeling Police Officer Chris Kanches has been working with Riggs for almost two weeks at TOPS and showcased how quickly the young dog learned as they demonstrated basic movement commands, before showing tracking skills and the dog's ability to protect the officer.

“I thought it was amazing. It was very informative and entertaining and really good for the kids,” said Grayslake resident Tracy Wildman, who brought her three children to watch the dog demonstration. “I definitely learned some new tricks on how to handle dogs and reward them, based on how they train their kennel dogs. There is a science to it and it's a lot more than what I thought it was.”

TOPS is a dog and cat boarding and training facility in Graylake. For more information, go to http://www.tops-k9.com or call (847) 223-2822.