Episode #40 Josh Kirby "Kirby K9"

The Working Dog Depot Podcast

It's especially rewarding for us to get an opportunity to interview a hard working man with integrity. That was certainly the feeling we had as we concluded the interview. Hope you all enjoy the conversation as much as we did.
Josh is a retired police officer after serving at Garland PD and Denton PD
in Texas since 2003. During that time Josh held positions as a field
training officer, firearms instructor, active shooter instructor, academy
instructor, K-9 handler, and K-9 instructor. Josh’s K-9 partners won
numerous awards, both in police canine competitions, and on the street
making high risk felony apprehensions and seizing thousands of pounds
of narcotics and millions of dollars in drug money. During Josh’s career, he
received numerous awards and commendations including over 50
meritorious conduct awards, officer of the year, and the life saving award.
Josh’s first police dog won the United States Police Canine Association
Region 20 (USPCA) “Top Dog” overall in the first two years he competed,
before becoming a USPCA judge. Josh has trained and certified hundreds
of police K-9 teams and is still active in the police K-9 community.
In the civilian world, Josh competes with his personal dog that he trained
from a puppy in Protection Sports Association (PSA) and is a certified trial
decoy. Josh has trained his current dog to the level of PSA2 and has won
numerous awards at trial with her including high obedience and high
protection. As a decoy, Josh has been selected as a national select decoy
four times, and has traveled all over the U.S. and internationally to decoy,
train dogs, and certify decoys. Josh has decoyed over 150 competitive
trials in five different countries. Josh is currently the secretary of decoys
for PSA and maintains decoy evaluations and certifications of over 100
decoys worldwide.
Josh is the founder and owner of Kirby K9 which started as a custom
leash and collar company for police and working dogs, and has expanded
to include selective training for obedience and protection dogs. Kirby K9
specializes in working dog equipment and is the largest dealer for
Demanet bite suits. Josh works very closely with Demanet to develop and
test new products and bite suits, and Demanet has adopted the designs
and construction of bite sleeves developed by Josh.
Josh is passionate about training dogs, particularly in protection work and
believes

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Please welcome Ray Allen Manufacturing as a sponsor to the podcast. Go to the most trusted name in industry for all of your k9 related equipment. For a 10% discount use the WDD10 discount code.
Welcome our sponsor Gold Coast K9. Gold Coast K9 trains and deploys hand-selected service dogs for personal and family protection, police agencies, and school districts. Their training programs rank among the best and most trusted in the world. Follow Gold Coast k9 on all social media platforms. For 10% off merchandise use the GCK910 discount code on their website www.goldcoastk9.com
HLTK9 Conference continues to be a supporter of the WDDP. They are gearing up for the next conference in Myrtle Beach SC. Plan ahead, the 2025 conference will be April 1,2,3, 2025. Register today at www.htlk9.com.
If you want Rich and Howard to come to your location we can make it happen. They have come together to provide workshops on any K9 related topic you like. Open to law enforcement and civilian attendees. Contact Howard at [e-mail] or 704-473-9885.