Mantracker program expands beyond K-9 training to embrace wide police skillset

COWETA COUNTY, GA. - Police agencies from around the state are wrapping up three days of training in Coweta County. Mantracker’s rich history is in law enforcement K-9 training, but it has expanded to nearly all facets of police work. 

For example, at this year’s mantracker, officers could learn about autism from mothers of autistic children. 

Police training is expensive. However, what is billed as the largest free training exercise in the Southeast is open to all free of charge. 

It’s put on by the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office, which is the K-9 training home to a number of north Georgia police departments. FOX 5 spotted dogs from South Fulton, LaGrange and Peachtree City to name but a few. 

They train in all kinds of situations, such as an abandoned hospital in Newnan. The point of the exercise is to train the dog to do what’s its handler commands in what could be a visually confusing situation for the K-9. 

In 2021, FOX 5 was with K-9 handlers and their dogs as they trained inside a Newnan haunted house. The objective then was reinforcing discipline in scenes that were loud and chaotic. 

It’s been a hard year that Coweta County Sheriff Lenn Wood says illustrates the dangers. A Coweta County K-9 was shot while trying to apprehend a fleeing motorist. A Coweta K9 handler was killed in the line of duty following a high-speed chase.