Hans is highly trained in tracking and apprehension and is seeking to bring his unique skillset to African game reserves. (Can you guess which one he is?) Photo: Supplied.
Hans follows a gruelling training regime in preparation for his job, honing his skills three times a day, five days a week for the best part of the past two years.
He can track people for kilometres through difficult terrain, and if they pose a threat, he can act quickly and confidently to apprehend them with his powerful bite.
If you haven’t figured it out already, Hans is a dog. Or a Belgian Malinois to be specific, a breed that resembles a German Shepherd but is smaller, lighter and has a shorter coat.
The man behind the dog is Ascension Canine Training owner Jeremy Wikner. The dogs Jeremy has painstakingly raised and trained from puppy age through to adulthood have gone on to a variety of careers across the country. Frank went to WA Police, Dirk is posted with the Australian Army in Darwin and Errol helps a conservation group in regional Victoria control invasive species.
“Every single dog is so different and not necessarily better or worse than the next one. But just like us as humans, they’ve all got their strengths and weaknesses,” Jeremy explains.
While Hans was originally going to follow in the footsteps of many a Canberran and work for a government agency, fate intervened when Jeremy couldn’t find a suitable buyer.
Hans is now set to take the road less travelled and enjoy one of the most exciting careers of any of Jeremy’s dogs yet – protecting African megafauna from poachers.
“It’s really hard to describe the feeling, I really felt like Hans is best suited for conservation work in Africa,” Jeremy says.
He’s reached this conclusion for a couple of reasons. One is Hans’ smaller size, which improves his ability to dissipate heat and better suits him to working in hot conditions.
But Jeremy says most of all, it’s his bite force. “The pressure that he exerts when he’s biting something is incredibly powerful. He bites with his heart and soul,” Jeremy says.
“While this might be uncomfortable for people to read about, it’s unfortunately really necessary and I think it’s a really beautiful thing that dogs like Hans exist.
“No different to an infantry soldier in the Australian Defence Force, Hans is trained to protect and do what he needs to do to preserve human life.”
Jeremy says it’s a common misconception that a dog trained to track and apprehend people, even in the face of the sound of gunfire, will be nasty, savage or scary.
“Hans is actually a beautiful soul,” he says. “He understands when it’s time to do that work and he very clearly understands when it’s time to just have a cuddle, which is 99 per cent of the time.”
Jeremy says one of their weekend pastimes is a kind of hide-and-go-seek, where he’ll give his wife and daughter a head start on their walk and then search for them with Hans or one of the other dogs he’s training. But aside from being a bit of fun, this weekend exercise is indicative of the consistent level of attention dogs with such sophisticated skillsets need.
“You can’t just train these dogs to the standard that you want and just let it ride,” Jeremy says. “They’ll degrade, become neurotic, discover things to destroy and their standards will drop off.”
Jeremy says balancing this intensive training commitment with his young family and full-time day job played a big part in his decision to donate Hans at no cost to South African anti-poaching not-for-profit Kilo9 Academy. He says while such a dog can fetch $25,000, he’s only trying to raise $6500 to cover transportation and vaccination costs for Hans’ new career.
“Every single dog that I’ve moved on to whatever role they’ve gone to, I’ll be honest, I cry. It hurts. I love them deeply and I keep tabs on them forever,” Jeremy says.
“At the exact same time, as you’re going through those emotions, it’s super complex, because there’s an immense sense of pride.”
To find out more about Hans’ campaign, please visit Ascension Canine Training’s Facebook page or website.
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