The Captain was born December 3, 1931 to Arthur P. and Helen Jean Haggerty (nee Healy). Born in Manhattan, he and his younger brother Gerard were raised in the Bronx. Growing up he attended St. Nicholas Tollentine School. Tom Philbin, a childhood friend, remembered, ‘When we were kids, no one would ever fight Artie. He would fight to the death, he would never give up.” As a kid he was more interested in attending dog shows than ball games. This early love for dogs and his fighting attitude prepared him for his future.

When he was growing up people did not grow up to be dog trainers, his goal was to work as a handler. He apprenticed under several handlers. The breeds included Irish Setters, Boston Terriers and Bull Terriers.

Cap never spoke of his military career and the only information we have is from an incomplete set of military records and stories others have passed along.

Around 1951, he enlisted in the United States Army. His first stop was the Korean Conflict. After that tour, he returned to New York City. About one year later, he decided that he was bored and went back into the service. After attending Ranger school, he went back to Korea. It was this time that he received his Bronze Star with the V device. This was received at the Battle for Pork Chop Hill which was depicted in the 1959 movie with Gregory Peck. He also received at least one of his Purple Hearts in Korea. During his career in the service, he also became the commanding officer of the K9 Corps.

Sergeant Bennett, a seventy-seven year old man living in Alabama said, “I was sure sorry to hear Captain Haggerty passed. He was a good man. He really knew his tactics. I don’t know where he learned it all but he was very good at what he did. He promoted me to Sergeant and I was very grateful to him for that.”

He left active duty around 1959 and then went to Berlin where he opened up a Chinese Laundromat for one year. He then returned to New York City around 1960.

Around this time he teamed up with Dick Maller and formed Tri-State School for Dogs. Business boomed. Crime was up in New York City and everyone wanted guard dogs. Shortly thereafter, they parted ways. Around this time he met Betty-Ann LaMott, at, where else but a party for dog fanciers. Betty-Ann was the woman who would eventually become his wife. At her suggestion, he named his new venture Captain Haggerty’s School for Dogs. Business once again boomed. The uncanny ability with dogs, he was blazing a trail that no one had dared and he had a characteristic bald head and was a big broad man. No one forgot him!

His school became a “full service boarding and training school”. At one time he had locations in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx and a kennel in Upstate New York. He offered boarding school, guard dog rental, theatrical dogs, obedience training in the home, protection training. Whatever you wanted your pooch to learn the Captain would teach it. Several people around the country who had heard about him started calling him wanting to learn how to train dogs. One was Sidney Mihls. “I think that he just started the course for dog trainers so that I would stop calling him.” Many trainers got their start taking the Captain’s course. Those that didn’t, many more who are still successfully training dogs today, started working in his kennel scooping poop. He gave many a start to a career. He was proud to say that he gave people a career. He once told his daughter Babette Haggerty, “If I leave you nothing else, I like to think that I have left you a career and a way to make a buck.”

Not only did he directly train people to train dogs but he conducted seminars and training workshops. His ever present figure also inspired many to train dogs.

There is the story that Andy Linton, the famed Doberman handler, was a surfer boy and read an interview in Sports Illustrated magazine with my dad and his take on Westminster. When Andy read that, Andy realized that he could show dogs, and the rest is history.

It is also a legend that many children use to watch the Captain train dogs outside his store in the Bronx and that watching him day after day after school and during the summer they too, decided to become trainers themselves.

In 1967, never one to do anything traditional, the Captain and Betty-Ann LaMott eloped in Las Vegas. In 1968, their only child, Babette, was born. Shortly thereafter they moved to the suburbs where they remained until 1989.

As his business grew, he became more and more in demand. He was called to supply dogs for a movie called, “Shamus” starring Burt Reynolds. The director liked his look so they hired him on the spot as a “goon”. In his motion picture debut, he chased Burt Reynolds through Central Park and consequently was hit by him in the stomach with a log. His first on the job injury occurred there. He was bitten by the acting bug and during his career he either appeared or handled dogs in over 150 feature films and 450 commercials.

In 1977, he co-wrote his first published book, Dog Tricks, with Carol Lea Benjamin. Thirty years later it is still a best selling classic. The theatrical dog business grew and he pioneered David Letterman’s Stupid Pet Tricks and appeared 26 times on the show.

As his multi-faceted life continued he continued writing, acting and mostly training dogs. Newspapers and television shows were always doing stories on him.

In 1990, he moved to Los Angeles where he spent the next 14 years and then relocated to North Palm Beach, Florida to be closer to his daughter and grandchildren in 2004.

During the time in California, he developed a method of dog training called the Zen Method of Dog Training. Although, it was something that he had spent about twenty years working on, he pulled it together while in California. This was one of several of his books that were never finished. He also began a labor of love. He started publishing the Aggression Newsletter which is a quarterly publication dealing with aggression.

It was also in these later years, he became an AKC judge for the German Shepherd Dog, the three Belgian Shepherds, the Bull Terrier, the Miniature Bull Terrier and Junior Showmanship.

During this era, he also started an annual tradition of taking a group of German Shepherd fanciers over to Germany for the Sieger show. The true patriot that he was, after 9/11 he never returned to Europe. He wanted to keep his money in the United States of America.

U. S. ARMY SERVICE AWARDS
This is not a complete list. This only includes his first three years of the over 10 years he served.

Bronze Star with V Device Purple Heart (Three)
Combat Infantryman Badge
Korean Service Medal with
Three Bronze Service Stars
National Defense Service Medal
United Nations Service Medal

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE MAN’S BEST FRIEND

While Commanding Officer of the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Scout Dog Platoon at Ford Ord, California, conducted training experiments involving over 500 separate tests dealing with: Mine detection. The effect of “masking” odors on the dog’s olfactory senses; Effects of distracting scents on properly motivated dogs and the dog’s ability to detect the absence of earth.

Consulted with and observed the olfactory experiments on dogs conducted by Professor Neuhaus of the University of Erlangen in Germany.

Consulted with and observed the Police Dog Training Division of the Metropolitan Police in London, England.

Observed and worked with: sentry dogs in Okinawa, the Philippines, and Germany; Police Dogs in Hong Kong, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C; guide dogs in Germany, Holland, and Belgium.

Conducted extensive experimental work in scouting, and research in dog behavior.

Worked with Duke University’s Para-psychology Laboratory in testing dogs for extra sensory perception.

Trained avalanche dogs, sled dogs, messenger dogs, bird, rabbit and varmint dogs, herd dogs, man trailers, guide dogs, attack dogs, scout dogs, estate dogs, etc.

Conducted tests on the scenting ability of dogs in locating people buried under snow.

Conducted tests with scout dogs to determine the width of a scent cone at different ranges at Fort Benning, GA. During this period, he made the initial investigation into the feasibility of using scout dogs in Vietnam to locate explosives, mines, trip wires and punj pits.

Worked on tracker dog training with Bloodhounds and German Shorthair Pointers.

Throughout his career he independently conducted tests in all phases of training dogs, developing techniques in training handlers, and teaching and training techniques for service dogs with multiple handlers.

Established the “Dog Bite Fatality Committee” for the investigation of the circumstances and causes of human deaths attributed to dog bites.

Wrote an estimated 1,000 articles on dogs.

Author of the dog training section in the Encyclopedia Britannica.

He was a civilian consultant to the U.S. Army’s Dog Breeding Program at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland. The program was officially known as the Bio-Sensor Program but it received the appellation “Super Dog Program” in the press. Dogs were trained for a wide variety of jobs including scout dogs, patrol dogs, explosive detector dogs, narcotic detector dogs, etc.

Multiple winner of awards given by the Dog Writers Association of America.

Author of the following books: Dog Tricks, The American Breeds, How to Get Your Pet Into Show Business, How to Teach Your Dog to Talk, The Zen Method of Dog Training and Service Dogs: Their Training and Employment.

Judged the First SchutzHund Trial in New York State.

Chairman of National Dog Week

Served on the Board of Directors of many organizations including: Bull Terrier Club of America, German Shepherd Dog Club of Los Angeles County, Dog Writers Association of America, The Society of New York Dog Trainers, The Professional Dog Trainers Association, The Guild of Animal Theatrical Agents, Institute of Human Animal Relationships (former President), Monterey County Dog Breeders Association, Bronx County Kennel Club (former President)

He trained dogs and men for (partial listing): Weedsport, NY Police Department, The United States Government’s General Services Administration, Scarsdale, NY Police Department, Ark City, Kansas Police Department (also trained for narcotics work), Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office, Schenectady County, NY Sheriff’s Department (dog trained for drug work), Del Ray Beach, FL Police Department, The U.S. Army, and U.S. Air. Force, Texaco, Trinidad, British West Indies (bomb dog), Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation.

He trained and supplied dogs for: Gimbels, Macy’s, Korvette’s, Alexander’s, Bonwit Teller, Ohrbach’s, and B. Altman.

Sat on the Commission for Animal Education in the New York City school system. The Commission’s duties are to recommend and aid in implementing courses of instruction dealing with animal care and husbandry in a wide range of courses offered by New York City’s high schools. These courses are designed to prepare the students for careers in the animal care field. The Commission was also responsible for recommendations on implementing the law-required courses on humane education. Trained the dog “Sandy” for the Broadway production of “Annie.” in addition to the South American production and over 85 other productions of “Annie”.

Won a Bronze medal at the Atlanta Film Festival for work in supplying a dog in the Panasonic commercial “The Chase”.

Supplied dogs to the following soap operas:

As The World Turns, All My Children, Another World.

Supplied dogs to many of the films being done for the Playboy Channel as well as two of Hugh Hefner’s Old English Sheepdogs, which did not appear in the films.

Trained and supplied the massive amount of 89 dogs on a sound stage in Manhattan for Nabisco Dog Biscuits. The entire shoot was accomplished in a single day.

Supplied and trained a ton and a half of dogs for the Time Magazine commercial in which fifteen St. Bernard’s appeared in a cabin in the North Woods during a blizzard.

Training Director for “Inner Sight”, a non-profit guide dog school training dogs for the blind.

Trained dogs to work with six multiple handlers for the General Services Administration of the U.S. Government in Ohio, New York and New Jersey. The GSA is the security and housekeeping branch that is responsible for government buildings and grounds.

Certified to Level III (the highest awarded) by the Society of North American Dog Trainers.

On the testing committee to certify dog trainer’s skills of the Society of North American Dog Trainers.

Founded the St. Roch Award, named after the patron saint of dogs.

Film:

Married To The Mob – Demme
Eyes Of Laura Mars – Kirschner
The Last Embrace – Demme
The Great Gatsby – Clayton
Home Movies (Quinn) – De Palma
Shamus (Haggerty) – Kulik
Blake: A Marriage of Heaven and Hell (Devil)
One Down, Two to Go (Mojo) – Williamson
Joey (Baldy) – Ellis
The Telephone Book (The DA)
House of Dark Shadows – Curtis
The Pawn Broker – Lumet
The Last Dragon – (Mr. Z)

TV Pilots:

Just for Fun – w/Bill Boggs
Murder Ink (Max) – Avildsen
Nero Wolfe (Mueller) – Gilroy

Television:

Saturday Night Live (2 Times) David Susskind
David Letterman (26 Times) David Frost
Mike Douglas Midday Live (8 Times)
Johnny Carson (2 Times) Joe Franklin (3 Times)
Merv Griffin Richard Belzer Show (2 Times)
Lorne Green Special Robert Klein Time
One Life To Live – (Maximillain) & Clarence)

TV Commercials:

Available on request (Over 65 commercials)

Stage:

OOB – Shaw’s “ON THE ROCKS” (Sir Jafna)
“THE PROPHET” (Melcior)
“MANHATTAN LOVE SONG, BRONX DREAMS” – Actor’s Studio
“SELLOUT” (Mandelbaum)
Stock- “STALAG 17″ (Stosh)

Animal Handler/Trainer (Have been behind the camera handling animals in over 150 feature films and 450 commercials) Stunt Player; Martial Arts; Boxing; Wrestling; Fluent German; Language and accent abilility; Football (Semi-Pro); Swimming; Mountain Climbing; Horse Back Riding; Award winning Author.

Height: 6′ 3″ (192cm)
Weight: 300 (136kg or 21 1/2 stone)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Shaved w/Full Range of Wigs

Jeff has been instrumental in developing new training methods for trailing dogs and has done ground-breaking work in training dogs for children with autism, using exclusively purebred dogs from selected breeding programs. He also has designed an extreme agility course for training police and SAR dogs, and is a prolific author. His book, Red Dog Rising, the story of his police Bloodhound, was awarded the  Planet Dog Foundation Special Award from the Dog Writer’s Association last year. His second book, K-9 Trailing: The Straightest Path, the first in a series of training books, was released by Alpine Publications in October 2011.

Jeff Schettler’s accomplishments include: Pure breed working dogs provider, trainer, and writer for the folllowing breeds: Bloodhound, German Shepherd, English Golden, Labrador, Malinois, and Basenji. Service Dog Provider for children with disabilities using purebred dogs as the foundations for all of our work; in particular German Shepherds, Labradors, and Golden’s. Pioneered the use of German Shepherds for trailing tracking work of their autistic children through sound police methods of trailing outlined in my new book. Pioneered the placement of hand selected and tested pure breed puppies in the home of children with disabilities to promote a better bond between ward and charge than what is the norm in the service dog industry.  Many non-profits use pound dogs that are socialized for service dog work and we believe that though the model might work, it does not work as well as it should.  Our philosophy is to take specially bred pups and place them in the host home at an age of 10-16 weeks for bonding with the child in question.  We believe the bond is 50% of the equation and without it, the work will always suffer.  We also believe that only using line of carefully bred purebred dogs is the way to get the traits we need for the job. No other companies use our method because it is too time consuming and expensive.  No other companies get the results that we do, either.  We train only a handful of dogs each year because our process is so labor intensive; however, the results speak for themselves. Provider to the Veterans Affairs hospital for specially trained German Shepherds to work in a police fashion in and around disabled veterans and to track them should they go missing from the hospital.  Our program was the first of its kind. Jeff was he first full time police purebred bloodhound handler on the street with his dog in the state of California. Bloodhound handler attached to the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team for high risk fugitive manhunts. Responsible for the capture of numerous criminals using a pure bred bloodhound as outlined in  his book, “Red Dog Rising.” Responsible for helping to establish sound evidence for several court cases in the State of California to include the murder of a San Jose Police Officer.  All of these cases surrounded the use of pure breed bloodhounds. Pioneering the use of specially bred and trained Basenjis for covert detector dog work in the areas of narcotics and explosives.  We started this program because the Basenji is very small, quiet and unobtrusive, making it so the average person would not know the dog is a detector dog.  Also, the Basenji’s agility, endurance, and ability to thrive in very hot weather gives them an advantage.  No other company has started a program like ours with the breed because they are considered untrainable by many.

We are on our fourth generation of working Basenji.  I have contributed articles on the subject of working Basenjis to the Basenji Magazine. Responsible for the first, 1998, California POST, (Peace Officer Standards and Training), police bloodhound training course offered to California police officers. Responsible for the first, 1999, California POST all police K9 scent discrimination and trailing course using only pure breed police K9′s: Bloodhound, Malinois, and German Shepherd Responsible for the first in the USA tactical trailing course offered to SWAT teams to teach operators how to safely work with police trailing dogs such as Bloodhounds, German shepherds, and Malinois. Contributing author for pure breed dog deployment and training: Police K9 Magazine K9 Cop Magazine The Basenji Basenji Buschtrommel (Germany) The Western Yodel (Basenji-Austraila) Contributor for dog training and deployment on the following shows: Mythbusters CNN Unsolved Mysteries Discovery National Geographic Americas Most Wanted   submitted by Betty McKinney, Alpine Publications.   Learn More About Arthur J. Haggerty “The Captain”

 Purchase The Straightest Path K9 Trailing Today!

Phoebe Bault
phoebe@gak9.com
770-721-6959

See the entire Flickr Photo Stream Here 89 Photos

This test should be done on the 49th day of the puppy’s life for the most accurate results. There are eleven standards by which trainers at Georgia K9 evaluate each puppy:

• Approach
• Social Acceptance
• Following
• Restraint
• Forgiveness
• Elevation
• Retrieving
• Touch Sensitivity
• Sound Sensitivity
• Sight Sensitivity
• Structure

Before you purchase/adopt a new puppy give Georgia K9 trainers a call. Our trainers are here to offer advice on breed selection, breeders, and rescue groups.

Pam Medhurst Life Saving Award

On June 29, 2011 Search and Rescue was called to look for a missing elderly man who had become disoriented. He managed to make an initial cell phone call saying that he fell after his car got stuck, but did not know where he was. I was deployed with my dog ” Snickers” to his car. When we arrived the temp. was over 110 and the ground was so hot , my dogs pads were burning. I made the decision to keep him safely in the shade and with my partner, we tracked the missing subject . We began to find his belongings that he had dropped and his clothes that he had taken off. We located him down a very steep hill where he had fallen. He was very dehydrated . Our team was called and together we put him on a backboard and transported him to a safe location where the helicopter was able to make a hoist rescue.

–Pam Medhusrt Learn More…

We later obtained a 1/4 AF trindle named Kaden. Kaden is out of CH Sugrshaq-Ankhu No Holds Barred and Invicta’s Phoenix of Brushy Run. Kaden was the first Basenji we ever tested with police K9 working traits on all levels. Basically, he was a little police Malinois or German Shepherd in basenji clothing. He retrieves, detects explosives, and has a keen ability to work with humans that might be characterized as un-basenji like.

We bred Kaden and Phoenix with the sole purpose of producing a small, agile, compact, and highly efficient detector dog line that did not look like the normal large breed detector dog. This dog needs to have the ability to work all day in extreme high temperatures. What we also require is a dog that works very well with humans, takes direction, and has above par intelligence and a nose that is off the charts. We believe that we will have that with this litter. This working litter has been 6 years in the making and it appears that it will be small. We hope to provide two pups to law enforcement for detector dog work and the rest to basenji fanciers interested in a working line. We expect the litter to test above par for human relationships and an ability to work in just about any field. If you have an interest in a hunting basenji for small game, this could also be the litter as Phoenix is one of the best hunting dogs I have worked with. Kaden has not been allowed to hunt wild game and his sole focus was detector dog work; however, I believe he would perform in a stellar fashion in the field if allowed. His speed is off the charts clocked between 27-28MPH. Both Kaden and Phoenix are Fanconi clear. Phoenix’s litter is due in about two weeks. Check out our obstacle course on our web page to see what our agility is like.

We own and operate a K9 training company called Georgia K9 National Training Center. We are a K9 trainers for law enforcement, Military, and SAR handlers as well as a federal government contractor for K9 sales. I have written two books on the subject of K9 training as well as numerous articles on basenji topics. If you would like to learn a little bit more about us and the litter, please visit contact us using the links or number below.

Contact Us
877-360-MyK9 (6959)
Email Jeff Schettler
Canton, Georgia

Weight of Basenji(s) parents: Kaden 24, Phoenix 19
Parents health tests: Fanconi Clear
Registration if any (AKC, Basenji Clubs, etc): AKC both parents
Price: TBD
Due date for puppies to be born: 11/15/11
Age when puppies will be ready to be taken home: 7-9 weeks

Click here to view the embedded video.

SARCON 2011 videos. We will be uploading many more videos of training as well of the overhead filming by the Roswell Test Fight Crew using their drone. (Search and Rescue Conference)

TTT K9Bloodhound Manhunter

Aerial overhead filming

The Search

The Find

Kent and Gabe

Chris

Heather

Linda

K9 Manhunters | UAV DRONE FOOTAGE | TTTK9.COM

Heather and K9 Madison on a Human Scent Trail during SARCON 2011. This exercise was performed during the Tactical tracker Teams K9 Corps K9 Trailing Class with K9 Master Trainer Jeff Schettler.

In this video we get a new perspective on mantrailing to see how we could incorporate unmanned drones to film and watch for danger on high risk tracks. The operator stayed well behind and viewed the action real time, via goggles.

Drone footage courtesy of The Roswell Test Flight Crew.
Produced by Jason McCollim – Learn more at TTTK9.com

Produced by Jason McCollim

Voodoo came to SARCON (Search and Rescue Conference) with us and it was her first time on a plane and out of state. This is her first trail within 20 hours of arrival. Note when she catches the edge of my scent pool with a good proximity alert and chases the blowing odor for a short distance prior to grabbing the trail again.

GAK9 Voodoo at SARCON

Voodoo SARCON