Dawn Jauernik

Dawn Jauernik is a canine handler and head trainer for the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina. She has been in law enforcement for 29 years, 12 of which have been in canine.

While working her canine, Dawn has been on the Crime Reduction Team and the Narcotics Unit. She is currently a Lieutenant in Operations as well as an FBI TFO on the Coastal Carolina Criminal Enterprise and Human Trafficking Task Force Teams. Dawn and K9 Bonito may look familiar, as they participated on America’s Top Dog season 1 that aired on A&E in January 2020.  Bonito also has his own tracking lead made by High Speed Gear.

Dawn is the first female to be a K9 handler for the Sheriff’s Office, the first female to be the supervisor of the Crime Reduction Team, the first female to be the supervisor of the K9 Unit, and the first female to be a Lieutenant in Operations, where she is currently a commander of a shift. Dawn has graduated from two canine instructor schools; Ventosa Kennels and Fayetteville State University and has attended numerous canine classes and seminars. Dawn coordinates a multi-agency canine training session weekly to facilitate training with surrounding counties.

Dawn is the owner and head trainer of Pawsitive A+ K9, a dog training business located in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Pawsitive A+ K9 offers obedience, behavior modification, scent work, and tracking instruction. Dawn is an AKC Evaluator for Canine Good Citizens, AKC Fit Dog, Fetch, Trick Dog, and AKC Temperament. Dawn enjoys competing in dock diving, AKC scent work, Fast Cat, and AKC Fit Dog with her three personal dogs.

Class: Tracking: Scent Discrimination Training

This class will cover in detail the composition of trail scent as well as the environmental influences that affect those compositions. I will break down the training methodology of what scent discrimination training is while tracking. I will also explain correct training protocols for this methodology and its training goals. We will cover the three training methods utilized for scent discrimination training as well as the desired training tracks to emulate in order to produce a track reliable K-9.

Class: Developing Advanced Tracking Skills

This class will cover in detail the skills to be learned in order to advance the K-9 tracking team on the streets. Some of these tracking skills that will be covered in detail include wind awareness, reading the air-scent alert, visual tracking, night training, street or road crossing, surface changes and more.