German Shepherds are my favorite breed so the new show on National Geographic Wild is perfect for me. 'Alpha Dogs' is a great show if you like to watch people being taken down by trained dogs. For some reason I get satisfaction out of watching a drug sniffing dog do his job.

If you are a German Shepherd Dog-lover like me, this show is for you:

" target="_blank">Vohne Liche Kennels is famous in my world. It is where Ken Licklider and his posse train working dogs for police and military use all over the world. I have heard of about this place for years.

Here is some information about the show from Nat Geo Wild:

What's the Scoop on the Dogs:

The dogs from Vohne Liche Kennels are trained for specific in-the-field jobs including sniffing out bombs, recovering cadavers, protecting police and military, enforcing anti-terrorism initiatives, locating missing persons, detecting forensic evidence and discovering hidden narcotics.

About the Kennels:

Vohne Liche Kennels (VLK), pronounced Von Lick, is a full service K-9 training facility where only the best go for highly trained police/military service dogs.

VLK was founded by United States Air Force Senior Master Sergeant Kenneth Licklider, in 1993.

The training staff includes 18 on-site trainers and 6 off-site trainers. Much of the training staff is either former military, law enforcement or both.

VLK has trained police and military service dogs for more than 5,000 law enforcement and government agencies, including the National Security Agency (NSA), Pentagon Police, U.S. State Department, all military branches and more than 500 civilian and police agencies.

The VLK facility is located over 600 acres in Denver, Ind., and includes three kennels, obstacle courses, dormitories, training classrooms, training buildings, and a workout gym.

They also operate kennels in Banning, Calif., Yuma, Ariz.

At any given time VLK maintains around 350 dogs in various phases of training.

VLK also utilizes off-site facilities in both rural and urban areas to provide real-life experiences to teams, including warehouses, hotels, schools, lumber yards, impound lots, jails and private residences.

Dog prices at VLK reach as high as $50,000 depending on the amount of training and what the dog is trained to do.

This is one of my favorite episodes so far. Probably not the favorite for this handler though.

The next show airing on Friday, March 1 at 8 p.m. (our time) is 'Alpha Dogs: Love at First Site.'  The Pentagon is very specific in their protective agency needs. The hope is to find them the right dog. Check out the preview:

Can you imagine strapping your dog to your back and repelling from a building? I am afraid of heights but I actually think this would be fun, with the proper training.

Border Hounds: Airborne Rescue Dog. Search and rescue dogs have to do everything with their police unit - even repelling!

Who are the people that operate the kennel?

 

Kenny Licklider Alpha Dogs National Geographic Channel
Kenny Licklider, Alpha Dogs
National Geographic Channel
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Kenny Licklider, Owner and Founder of Vohne Liche Kennels (VLK). Kenny, a retired Senior Master Sergeant in the US Air Force, started VLK in 1993. From his days working with dogs in the military, Licklider felt he could train dogs to be more effective and in a lot less time than other training facilities. Today, he has transformed VLK into a multi-million dollar business, spread out over 600 acres in Denver, Ind. They train approximately 400 dogs and 150 handlers from 46 states and 20 foreign countries yearly. He is still hands on with many students and dogs that comes through the facility, training man and dog to work hand-in-hand.

 

Danny Parker
Danny Parker, Alpha Dogs
National Geographic Channel
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Danny Parker, Head of Police Training at VLK. Danny was an undercover narcotics agent with the Terre Haute (Ind.) police department for 9 years, assigned to the organized crime and narcotics unit. He was also the department's first K-9 dual purpose handler/trainer. At VLK, Danny is Kenny's right hand man. He's equally as intimidating looking as Kenny, but more of a joker. He recently traveled to Afghanistan to train Afghan handlers and bomb dogs to protect President Karzai.

 

Bobby Roettger
Bobby Roettger, Alpha Dogs
National Geographic Channel
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Bobby Roettger, Head of Military Operations at VLK. Bobby was a police officer for nine years in Connersville, Ind. where he was a member of the K-9 unit working narcotics and a SWAT team leader. He runs the military training operations side at VLK, and is known for being cool under pressure and never missing deadlines.

 

KC Licklider
KC Licklider, Alpha Dogs
National Geographic Channel
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K.C. Licklider, trainer and Kenny's son. K.C. is the boss's son. Although still in his teens, he is quickly becoming one of the best trainers at the kennel. His father hopes he will one day take over the business, but he still has a lot of learning to do. You'll often find K.C. sneaking out of work early to go hunting or fishing, and his top priority is chasing women.

 

Luther McDonald
Luther McDonald, Alpha Dogs
National Geographic Channel
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Luther McDonald, T.E.D.D. Program Lead Instructor. Luther has been with VLK since 2004, working his way up the ladder. Luther is currently the lead instructor for the Tactical Explosive Detector Dog Program (T.E.D.D.) for the U.S. Army, teaching teams and dogs to detect improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Check out the upcoming episodes:

Alpha_Dogs_Upcoming_Episodes
Alpha Dogs Upcoming Episodes
National Geographic Channel
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It is like watching a horse show and wanting to go out and jump on your horse for a ride. When I watch this show it inspires me to work with my latest rescued dog Karma.

Karma - Muttley Crew Rescue for German Shepherd Dogs
Karma - Muttley Crew Rescue for German Shepherd Dogs
Mimi Campbell-McDaniel/Townsquare Media
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She isn't learning any wild take down moves or anything, just basic obedience but it still makes me feel a connection to the people on the show for some strange reason.
Here is a picture of my Karma project.

 

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