The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C., Barry Saunders column: Cop dog training's ugly side Oct 21, 2008 (The News & Observer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Hey, now we know where Michael Vick can get a job when he gets out of the joint. Vick, the dog-fighting ex-NFL quarterback, will probably be too old to go back to football when he's released next year, but judging by a ruling from the State Personnel Commission, he may fit right in with the Highway Patrol. The Personnel Commission ruled that the governor and public safety director had no right to fire Trooper Charles L. Jones for tying up his leashed dog and trying, it appeared, to kick a 50-yard field goal with his spleen. The Personnel Commission ordered, remarkably, that Jones get back pay and his job back. Crime Control & Public Safety Director Bryan Beatty said the state will appeal the ruling to the N.C. Supreme Court. Regardless of the eventual outcome of the case, nobody is saying that Trooper Jones is a sadist who got a thrill from abusing Ricoh. As his attorney argued, these dogs aren't house pets that lie gently on your lap. His methods were, according to troopers who testified on his behalf, standard operating procedure. And no, before you even say it, that doesn't make it right. We apparently view the training of police dogs the same way we view Sweet Thang's previous love life: We can enjoy the benefits of both as long as we don't look too closely at how they came to be. Gene Lonsway of the Canine College of Chapel Hill said: "I can't speak for military and police dogs, but kicking is not an appropriate method for pet obedience. There's an old joke that the only thing two dog trainers can agree on is what a third dog trainer is doing wrong. "I train like a parent, giving positive reinforcement when they do something right and negative consequences for misdeeds," he said. Trooper Jones' real offense, if we're honest, was not that he played Hacky Sack with Ricoh's abdomen. It was that he let himself be recorded doing so, and we saw the unpleasantness. Sure, we were justifiably mortified by the video, but how else did you think police dogs get so obedient -- gourmet dog biscuits? If the highway patrol's canine unit is ever reinstituted, the question that needs to be asked is, "Once word gets out in the canine community that it's OK to dropkick your four-legged partner, what self-respecting dog is going to volunteer?" If you take away the kicking, being a police dog has its advantages. For instance, you get to ride shotgun, march in parades and, face it, sniff primo drugs. With apologies to the late Luther Ingram, here is my version of "(If Loving You is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right." Maestro, hit it: If kicking you is wrong How is what I did "right"? I grabbed your collar, hoisted you up Then I kicked you with all my might ... Am I wrong to kick my dog Even though I am a cop? And because I am, who among you Will tell me that I have to stop? If kicking you is wrong How is what I did "right"? If kicking you is wrong How is what I did "right"? The gubna and Bryan say it's a shame It's a downright disgrace But as long as I got you in my car I'll kick you anytime, anyplace. My friends tell me there's no future in treating my dog so bad. But now I'm back and I've got the same job I always had. barry.saunders@newsobserver.com or 919-836-2811. To see more of The News & Observer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.newsobserver.com. Copyright (c) 2008, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. Barry Saunders Copyright (C) 2008, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.