The idea of the nasty old man is to see how the dog reacts if something unexpected suddenly happens during a search. Maybe a cat jumps forward, or a human who has gone into hiding.
"We make a mental trait description of the dogs. To see what you need to work with, with your dog. If you have a dog that is too scared, you need to work with courage and if it is too aggressive, you have to hold back your dog, says John Säljgård, who is one of the course instructors.
In addition, self-preservation and the ability to get angry are also assessed.
Don't test on your own
"Of course, they can react, but you don't want them to explode when there is a rattle in a storage room. The nerves must work, says John Säljgård and sends with a warning:
"We don't want 'Pelle Persson' to build his own scary old man and try this at home. If you don't know what you're doing, an exercise like this can affect the dog negatively.
Vocational education is the only one of its kind in Dalarna and has attracted great interest. During the spring, about 40 dogs from all over Sweden have been tested and of them, 16 dogs with handlers have been selected to attend the training.
In a house a stone's throw away, another group of dogs are training to search. In about a year, the idea is that the dogs will be able to take on assignments as drug search dogs. Between the physical meetings in Dala-Järna, there will be homework to practice.
"Hope to become resources in the fight against drugs"
"My hope is that our dogs become resources in the fight against drugs. I think it's exciting to develop the dogs and see their enormous potential, says Lotta Lindqvist from Sunne in Värmland, who is taking the training with the hunting labrador Lisa.
Start the clip above to see how Lisa and the other course participants reacted to the test with the scary old man!