The Heart of America Police Dog Association, or HAPDA for short, is governed by an executive board consisting of the President, Vice-president, and Secretary/Treasurer. By-laws are established that provide the direction of the association. Issues that arise are brought before the general membership for voting. The board meets two times every year with the spring and fall meeting coinciding with our seminar and certification. (Business meetings are on Sunday nights and the event starts on Monday) Additionally, during the spring seminar and certification, a banquet is held to reward the members for their dedication.

MEMBERSHIP

Membership is $35.00 per year and due in October. Prospective members must be a member of a law enforcement agency either in the capacity of a handler, helper or administrator. Newsletter are sent out to keep members informed. Click here for membership application

EVENTS

CERTIFICATION

Certification is held in the fall of the year (usually October) and costs $50.00 per canine team. Handlers can attempt to certify in patrol, detector (Narc, Arson, SAR, or Explosives), tracking, and article/evidence search. Certification is normally a three day event and we always end up with a competition known as the Trophy Run. This event is designed to have fun and show off the drive of the canine and offers the canine team the chance to bring home a trophy along with the certification. Members bid for their agency to host the certification allowing certification to be held different locations year to year.

SPRING SEMINAR

The annual Spring Seminar is held around April of every year and lasts four days. Well known canine instructors are brought in to give everyone a different perspective on some aspect of the canine world. Past seminar topics have included tactical use of canines, large quantity detector searches, use of drag lines, large area searches, etc. These seminars prove to be the most valuable events our handlers attend.