Security Dog Handler Awareness Course Online

Security Dog Handler Awareness Course Online

Awareness-level CPD for non-handlers, mapped to BS 8517, NASDU, BIPDT and the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

Course Overview

Security dogs are the most specialised single asset in many UK security operations. A well-trained handler-and-dog team is a force multiplier on a contract. But the dog is also a working animal under someone’s duty of care, and an asset with civil and criminal liability attached to every deployment.

This course is awareness-level. It does not teach you to handle a security dog.

Instead, it is built for the people who work alongside, supervise or commission dog handler services: non-handler officers on sites with dog teams, supervisors managing handler shifts, contract managers, procurement teams and compliance leads.

It maps to the standards that actually govern UK security dog work, BS 8517-1 for general purpose security dogs and BS 8517-2 for detection dogs, NASDU industry body standards, BIPDT trainer standards, the SIA front-line Security Guard licence with dog handling as a working method, the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (Section 9, the Five Welfare Needs), the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, and the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

Course Modules

Six modules, around five hours, self-paced.

Every topic includes an interactive activity and a knowledge check. Illustrative diagrams only, no live dog footage.

Who It Is For

Non-handlers who work with, supervise or buy dog handler services:

• Security officers on sites with dog teams
• Supervisors managing dog handler shifts
• Contract managers and operations leads
• Procurement teams commissioning dog services
• Compliance leads building ACS audit packs
• Officers considering the full handler pathway, who want to understand it first

Why a Full Module on Animal Welfare

Because the Animal Welfare Act 2006 is statutory law, and the Five Welfare Needs in Section 9 are not negotiable.

A security dog is a working animal. So the welfare duty is shared between the handler, the contractor and, often, the site you are working on. If you supervise or commission dog services and something goes wrong, “I assumed the handler dealt with that” is not a defence.

Module 3 therefore sets out what good provision actually looks like: kennel, transport, shift conditions, veterinary care and end-of-working-life.

What This Course Is Not

It is not practical handler training, and it will not qualify you to work a dog on a live contract.

To handle a security dog you need a recognised practical pathway, such as the NASDU Level 2 General Purpose Security Dog Handler qualification, delivered by a NASDU-approved provider. London Security College does not deliver that pathway.

If you are heading that way, this course still earns its place: it gives you the legal, welfare and commercial framework before you commit to the practical route.

Delivery and Certification

Self-paced e-learning, browser-based, mobile and desktop friendly. Progress saves between sessions, so you can complete it across two or three sittings. On completion you receive a CPD-accredited certificate from London Security College, with 12 months’ access from enrolment.

Enrol Today

£20, with instant access after booking.