The History of ProK9

Background

Owner of ProK9, David Bessason, served as a police officer for 28 years with the Winnipeg Police Service (WPS). He quickly grew his career and became a well respected Sergeant- recognized not only in the city of Winnipeg, but across Canada as well. He began his career as a General Patrol officer, but soon was promoted to a District Detective. The later 25 years of his career were spent working in the K9 Unit, the Major Crimes Unit, and as a Det. Sgt. in the Homicide Unit. He was one of the most successful canine handlers in WPS, and had over 300 tracking arrests with his first General Purpose dog. Some of his greatest achievements as a member of the Winnipeg Police Service, apart from apprehending criminals, was creating a specially designed in-house breeding program with the goal of providing WPS with higher caliber dogs- something they had been lacking since the K9 Unit began. This breeding program was the first of its kind to be created and run by a municipal police service, and it allowed for the birthing and training of some of the most elite canines ever to work in law enforcement. Bessason’s program was not only essential for Winnipeg, but it allowed other law enforcement agencies across North America to increase their caliber of canines as WPS was able to provide trained dogs to these programs as well. Dave’s drive and extensive knowledge, as well as experience in canine psychology and behaviour, allowed him to have an exceptionally successful career as a police officer- and now continues his eminence as an industry leading canine trainer right here in Winnipeg.

Designations

Some of his designations include being a Certified Master Trainer for the North American Professional Canine Handlers Association as well as being the only Canadian Police Dog Trainer to be named to the training board of National Seminars for the United States Professional Canine Association.

He has also been a guest lecturer for the K9 Cops Magazine seminars in Nashville and Las Vegas.

Experience

David Bessason has over 30 years of experience working and training all different breeds. Through the combination of his career experience and teaching at seminars, Dave has worked and trained over 400 canine teams across North America. He has raised over 13 dogs from birth to adulthood- all born with different personalities and drivers. He supervised the development of over 42 pups in Police Departments across North America. Whenever a K9 unit needed help or ran into a roadblock with their program- Dave was their first call.

His knowledge and skills are not just limited to Winnipeg. He has traveled, and continues to travel, to teach and lecture at various conferences held all across North America. During his time with WPS, he was the Head Trainer for all canines and handlers working on the K9 Unit as well as oversaw each Municipal Police Service that trained through the program.

Currently, Dave runs the Security Dog Program for True North Sports & Entertainment with his primary responsibility being explosives search detection of Bell MTS Place- home of the Winnipeg Jets.

His team consists of a Belgian Malinois named Daisy, a brother and sister pair of black labs- Grace and Ryp, and another Belgian Malinois, Daisy’s niece, named Sparta.