How Can You Tell If A Dog Is Pregnant

A police dog is a dog that is trained specifically to assist police and other law-enforcement personnel in their work. Police dogs are often referred to by the term " K9 ", which is a homophone of "canine", a word that generally refers to dogs and dog-like animals.

In many jurisdictions the intentional injuring or killing of a police dog is a felony, subjecting the perpetrator to harsher penalties than those in the statutes embodied in local animal cruelty laws, just as an assault on a human police officer is often a more serious offense than the same assault on a non-officer. A growing number of law-enforcement organizations outfit dogs with bulletproof vests, and some even go so far as to make the dogs sworn officers, with their own police badges and IDs. Furthermore, a police dog killed in the line of duty is often given a full police funeral.

Purpose and function

Roles police dogs fill include:

  • Public order enforcement dog - The traditional image of a police dog is one used to enforce public order by chasing and holding suspects, or detaining suspects by the threat of being released, either by direct apprehension or a method known as Bark and Hold. German Shepherd Dogs and Belgian Malinois are most commonly used because of their availability (see Popular Police Dog Breeds); however other dog breeds have also contributed, such as Dutch Shepherds, Rottweilers, Boxers, Doberman Pinschers, Giant Schnauzers, American Pit Bull Terriers, and American Staffordshire Terriers.
  • Search and rescue dog (SAR) - This dog is used to locate suspects or find missing persons or objects. Bloodhounds are often used for this task.
  • Detection dog - Some dogs are used to detect illicit substances such as drugs or explosives which may be carried on a person in their effects. In many countries, Beagles are used in airports to sniff the baggage for items that are not permitted; due to their friendly nature and appearance, the Beagle does not worry most passengers.
  • Cadaver dogs - Some dogs are trained in detecting the odor of decomposing bodies. Dogs' noses are so sensitive that they are even capable of detecting bodies that are under running water Pioneering work was done by Dr. Debra Komar (University of Alberta) in Association with the RCMP Civilian Search Dog Association in this area. The result was the development of training techniques that resulted in near 100% accuracy rates. Her research has been published in the Journal of Forensic Anthropology.

Popular breeds

Main article: List of police dog breeds
  • Argentine Dogo (protect the officer, attack dog, sniff out bombs, sniff out drugs, sniff out foodstuffs)
  • German Shepherd (protect the officer, attack dog)
  • Dutch Shepherd (protect the officer, attack dog)
  • Belgian Malinois (protect the officer, attack dog)
  • Boxer (Germany) (protect the officer, attack dog)
  • Labrador Retriever (sniff out bombs, sniff out drugs)
  • Doberman Pinscher (protect the officer, attack dog)
  • Springer Spaniel (sniff out bombs, sniff out drugs)
  • Bloodhound (track down criminals, sniff out bombs, sniff out drugs)
  • Beagle (sniff out bombs, sniff out drugs, sniff out foodstuffs)
  • Rottweiler (protect the officer, attack dog)
  • Giant Schnauzer (protect the officer, attack dog)

Retirement

Police dogs are retired if they become injured or pregnant, are raising puppies, or are too old or sick to continue working.

Usage by country

Continental Europe overview

Official use of police dogs was recognized as being of value on the European Continent as early as 1859, with the Belgium Police in Ghent using dogs to officially patrol with the night shift.

Germany, France, Austria and Hungary soon followed with dogs becoming an accepted part of the official police establishment. The dogs employed at this time were hard aggressive animals that could inspire fear, protect their handler against attackers and be prepared to tackle courageously anyone found lurking in the ill-lit streets or open spaces. The breeds most commonly used by the end of the nineteenth century in these countries were Belgian & German Shepherds, Boxers, Dobermans and Airedales (imported from England).

The first major step forward in the development of the modern police dog came in the 1890s in Germany where serious attempts had been made to introduce recognised training programmes for the dogs purchased by the police, army & customs authorities. Rapid progress was made in the field of dog training with the development of the German Shepherd Dog as a breed and the formation on the 22nd of April 1899 of the Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde or SV (The German Shepherd Dog Society) . In 1903 the SV staged civilian police dog trials that encompassed control, criminal work and nose work exercises. The police authorities were impressed but were not convinced that the intensive efforts expended on training and the costs involved were justified by the results. The primary object of the police dog at this time was still seen as that of deterrent.

In the UK the attitude was very much the same; dogs were considered beneficial as long as they did not cost money or require special training, an attitude that still appears to be prevalent in many police departments around the world today. In 1914 official authority was granted for 172 constables in the Metropolitan (London) Police to take their own dogs on patrol with them, a motley crew of sheepdogs, retrievers, collies, terriers, spaniels, mongrels and even one Pomeranian.

In 1908, the North Eastern Railway police who used Airedales to put a stop to theft from the docks in Hull formed the first recognised UK Police Dog Section. By 1910 the British Transport Commission Police had taken over, experimenting with other breeds such as Labradors, Dobermans and finally, the German Shepherd or Alsatian as it was then known.

After the 1914 -1918 war, despite the success of the transport police dogs the police authorities in the UK continued to show a lack of interest in the use of dogs as an aid to police work. On the continent, however, dogs were being used for a variety of purposes with organised dog training centres being set up in various locations. The impressive results being obtained on the continent could not be ignored forever, and in 1934 a committee was set up to investigate the whole question surrounding the use of police dogs in the UK. An interesting excerpt from The Times dated 15 January 1938 gives an interesting insight into the thinking of senior police officers of the time in regard to the use of dogs. Colonel Hoel Llewellyn, Chief Constable of Wiltshire was quoted as follows:

"A good dog with a night duty man is as sound a proposition as you can get. The dog hears what the constable does not, gives him notice of anyone in the vicinity, guards his master's bicycle to the death, and remains mute unless roused. He is easily trained and will go home when told to do so with a message in his collar".

Bearing in mind that this was a statement from a pro-dog man of the times, is it any wonder that the authorities failed to understand the true worth of the dog in the role of law enforcement for a number of years to come.

In order to establish the best breed to be employed as a police service dog, the 1934 committee set up an experimental Home Office dog training school in Washwater, near Newbury, adjoining Lord Carnarvon's Highclere Estate. It concluded that a multi-purpose dog, trained to carry out all disciplines, was not possible, and that tracking and other work would have to be divided. The committee reported in 1937 that the experiments at the dog training school showed that the best breed of dog for following a scent was the bloodhound, and the best breed of dog for general patrol purposes was the Labrador. Experiments had been done in crossing Fell Hounds to Labradors and Otter Hounds to Bloodhounds, but both sets of crosses left something to be desired. As a result of the committee's conclusions, recommendations were made that Chief Constables 'consider' the use of dogs in police work, and it was once again left to the individual chief police officer to decide the worth of employing dogs in his respective police force. In 1938 two specially trained black Labradors were introduced into the Metropolitan Police as general patrol or 'utility' dogs, however, they were transferred in 1940 to the Cheshire Constabulary. With the outbreak of the Second World War, any further efforts to introduce dogs into a policing role in the UK were abandoned.

The end of the Second World War brought a crime wave to the shores of the UK, generally attributed to the presence of returning servicemen. It also brought the appointment of Chief Constable of the Surrey Constabulary to Sir Joseph Simpson K.B.E., a man who had a lifelong interest in gundogs and who saw clearer than most the possibilities of adapting the natural abilities and qualities of the dog t

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