Alpha Dogs

Any delay in their graduation costs the kennel money, but they can't risk graduating a dog or human without being fully confident in their skills to transition between taking down an enemy and finding the bomb. Later, Kenny joins Danny, Luther and his son K.C. as they travel to a training seminar commemorating a fallen officer and former VLK student.

Danny and Kenny visit the police department in Terre Haute, Ind., to test a group of dogs' reactions to live gunfire. One of the animals becomes anxious, and when his handler tries to subdue him incorrectly, he winds up with a vicious bite. The guys have to take the dog back to the kennel to determine if the dog has issues, or if the real issue was poor handling. Meanwhile, Luther has four dogs who he must teach to detect explosive odors in only a few short days before a new Tactical Explosive Detector Dog (T.E.D.D.) class. If he can't get the job done they'll have to work through the weekend, which means no turtling.

Rodney is skeptical, even after Bullwinkle shines in the indoor test, detecting the odor of body decomposition in a target box, and again outdoors finding a PVC pipe with real human remains. To really sell Rodney, they'll have to test the dog to find an intact human foot they've buried - which will also test their squeamish stomachs. Over in Logansport, Ind., Kenny and Danny have been invited to participate in the police department's drug interdiction detail, where they'll attempt to catch cars using a side road to avoid a drug checkpoint, and then bring in dogs to search for drugs. Kenny and Danny are excited to be out on the streets, and hoping their dogs can make the grade.

Once Kenny and Luther have made the pairings, they set the duos to work in a bomb-sniffing exercise that features live gunfire and explosions. One of the dogs, who, like the rest in this class, has already served time in Afghanistan or Iraq, shows signs of resistance at the first sound of explosions, and it's up to the guys from VLK to determine if she is capable of seeing combat again. Danny is dealing with a different kind of personnel problem: K.C., the boss's son, is perpetually showing up late and missing work. His young age and lack of real-life experience make it difficult for him to earn the respect he thinks he deserves: not only from overzealous trainees but also from his own dad.

The leaders of the charity visit VLK with an officer who is to receive a K-9 from the charity, but after he makes his selection, Bobby and Kenny are shocked to learn the dog needs to be comfortable working in and around water. If these two can't get the dog up to speed, it could affect the relationship with K9s4Cops and cost the kennel thousands of dollars in new business. In nearby Kokomo, Ind., Kenny and Danny work with a group of police officers to build their dog's confidence in taking out a bad guy. One handler shines bright, so Kenny and Danny invite him along on a real drug bust to give him a taste for real-world detection. Will he falter in the face of adversity, or continue to show potential?

Kenny has been training a dog named Max to find illegal cell phones, and now the dog is being put to the test, searching for active phones in a functioning jail facility. Meanwhile, KC contemplates a life-changing decision: Should he move to Florida with his girlfriend, or continue his career at Vohne Liche Kennels?