Derrick Fox is a canine trainer, retired police K9 handler and instructor with 20 years in law enforcement, including extensive patrol and detection experience in Canada. He operates a professional boarding and training facility, has instructed for the Canadian Police Canine Association and continues to support police agencies locally and abroad. Derrick’s work focuses on modern training principles, e-collar communication, operational reliability and the link between handler resilience, canine team performance, decision-making and life beyond the job.

Class: Clear Head, Clear Dog

How clarity under pressure improves canine performance, team function, and life beyond the job.

Class Description

Police canine work is built on pressure. This class examines pressure through dog training and handler resilience to develop better dogs, stronger teams, sounder use-of-force decisions, and greater stability off duty.

Clear Head, Clear Dog centres on the realities of mental health in police canine work, examining how cumulative stress, trauma exposure, and the onset of PTSD directly impact handler performance, decision-making, and overall team effectiveness.

Through the lens of modern dog training tools, techniques, and philosophies, Derrick connects handler resilience to canine outcomes, demonstrating how clarity, composure, and communication under pressure shape both dog and handler reliability in operational settings.

Drawing from more than two decades in law enforcement as a police canine handler and trainer, along with extensive experience in patrol, detection, and modern training systems, this class integrates practical applications of tracking, bark fence, e-collar communication, leaking, and secondary obedience as tools that build not only better dogs but also more stable, effective handlers.

Delivered through a candid, first-person perspective of job-acquired PTSD, this class addresses the reality that what happens on the job does not stay on the job. It carries into training, decision-making under pressure, and life off duty, influencing how handlers show up for their dogs, their teams, and their families.

In addition to training applications, the presentation will include practical operational tools that can help handlers better manage stress, pressure, and trauma exposure while remaining effective in their role. This class is designed to give handlers practical takeaways through the lens of mental resilience, sharpening their training, strengthening operational canine outcomes, and building stability that carries beyond the job and into the home.

Topics Covered

• Applying pressure with purpose through modern dog principles and techniques to develop dogs that work with greater understanding and resilience in field deployments.
• Understanding the relationship between handler composure and operational performance under stress.
• A first-person perspective on the onset of PTSD, cumulative operational stress, and how those pressures affect the handler, the dog, and life off duty
• Practical operational tools to better manage stress, trauma exposure, and nervous system overload.

A must-attend for team leaders, K9 handlers, and command staff who understand the weight of the job and the pressure of dynamic use-of-force decision-making. It addresses the importance of mental well-being in a profession where it is too often ignored, even though it shapes performance, judgment, and stability at home.