Tracking and trailing skills are honed to find hunters or anglers in the brush. The same ability to follow a scent can lead the K-9 teams to a lost child. The police service dogs' protection and apprehension abilities are well known. K-9s are trained to find and detain suspects in serious crimes, and to protect their human partner from physical attack. Many game wardens work in remote areas where law enforcement backup is rare.
Statistics show that work as a game warden is extremely hazardous.
In fact, wardens suffer nine times more assaults than other law enforcement officers. A K-9 partner offers a major deterrent to physical assault. Training is an everyday activity. Agility, obedience, detection, evidence searching, tracking, apprehension and protection are but a few of the skills that require constant reinforcement. DFG K-9s are used primarily in their own areas by their handlers, but the teams are available to assist game wardens throughout the State.