Police Dogs Work To Play
You have likely watched different reality shows where a GSD is deployed to chase down a threat or discover hidden contraband or explosives.
And youve probably noticed that each time the dog fulfills its duty, that its rewarded with verbal praise and then given some type of toy to play with often a ball or a rope to tug on.
This reward is given because police dogs love to play. In fact, this is what their training is based around. The dogs are motivated to do the work because of the reward of the play that happens for a job well done.
This is called positive reinforcement the dog is positively rewarded for doing its job well. This causes the dog to want to work.
Interesting fact: during training, dogs are often given towels as playthings to fetch and tug on. These towels serve a dual purpose.
While they are fun for the dog, they are also covered in a specific scent, such as black powder or a specific narcotic. This serves to make the dog associate the scent on the towel with their toy and playtime.
So when a police dog makes a find, to the dog, it has actually found its toy!
Meet The Belgian Malinois Dog
According to the American Kennel Club , the Belgian Malinois dog is the 43rd most popular companion canine .
These dogs look larger than they are, simply because they are so lean and tall. The Belgian Malinois can weigh anywhere from 40 to 80 pounds and stand anywhere from 22 to 26 inches tall.
One trait that is rather unique in the Belgian Malinois breed is that males and females can differ in adult weight by up to 20 pounds.
Malinois also has an unusually long life expectancy for a large dog breed 14 to 16 years.
Like the German Shepherd, Malinois comes from a herding dog background. And like the GSD, the Malinois had to find new work when using dogs to herd and guard livestock became less common.
Today, the Belgian Malinois is one of the top canine picks for police dog work, military K-9 service, and private sector protection and security work.
As the American Belgian Malinois Club explains, the New York police force is widely regarded as the first police organization to incorporate the Belgian Malinois into their ranks.
Matching A Dog With Their New Partner
German Shepherds are equally as important as the people that they are matched with, and due to this, police dogs are actually matched with their handlers based on their personality.
The matching process is far from simple, and it can actually take several weeks for a police dog to be properly matched with its new handler.
The officers will have to go through a lengthy training process to ensure that they are able to train the dog well, and a police officer will only become eligible to transfer to a specialty K-9 unit for training after completing at least one or two years of patrol service.
The exact length of time will depend on the specific department.
As well as all of this, the police officers prior career life will usually be assessed, and some of the questions that will be asked about the police officer can include:
- How familiar is the officer with canines in their day-to-day life?
- Is the officer very physically active on the job?
- Has the officer demonstrated an active role in inserting themselves immediately to handle adverse situations?
- Has the officer actively taken on people and problems?
- Is the officer generally responsible?
- Does the officer possess good communication skills?
It is also really important that the officer that is being matched with the German Shepherd is energetic by nature.
This is because German Shepherd police dogs are highly active and energetic, and they will need the same from their handlers.
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Will The Police Take My German Shepherd
Law enforcement agencies may accept a donated canine patrol dog with the right qualities and a good recommendation. To go on patrol, police prefer the agility, speed and endurance of the German shepherd or Belgian Malinois. Many breeds can qualify as detection dogs, including friendly Labrador retrievers.
Which One Is Better Belgian Malinois Or German Shepherd
For many areas of police work, the Belgian Malinois seems to be the better dog.
He is fast, athletic, possesses unlimited energy, is extremely agile, and strong despite its smaller, lighter body.
He is not prone to as many ailments and health problems as the German Shepherd dog.
German Shepherds, on the other hand, have a more massive, powerful build, they are heavier and larger in size.
Which is better for taking down stronger and more difficult opponents, and holding them there until the police arrives on the scene.
Another factor that comes down to the question whether the fast, swift Belgian Malinois or the loyal, courageous German Shepherd is better for the police is the levels of aggression in both dogs.
The Belgian Malinois and the German Shepherd alike can be trained to show aggressive behavior toward criminals on the run, which will scare them into surrendering
But the Belgian Malinois seems to be more aggressive, which is good for the police, and for the work they are designated to carry out.
However, among pedestrians and in places where there are crowds of people, this sort of aggression may be quite a formidable problem.
Even though most police forces are choosing the Belgian Malinois over the German Shepherd nowadays, deeming it a better choice because of the smaller dogs favored characteristics, a lot of police still stick to the larger, versatile German Shepherd.
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Why Does The Police Use German Shepherds
German Shepherds are famous for working with police. German Shepherds are calm-under-pressure, theyre highly intelligent and trainable, and they love to work. This makes the breed well-suited for working in high-stress situations, and its no surprise theyve been used in police work for more than 100 years.
Why Do The Police Use German Shepherds As Police Dogs
The German Shepherd is renowned for its strength, trainability, obedience, and high intelligence. This makes the breed ideal for several lines of work. These dogs are also highly active and confident with a keen willingness to learn. Furthermore, German Shepherds have no inclination to become friends with strangers immediately, which makes them ideal for protective roles. Also, German Shepherds have greater restraint over their prey drive in comparison to other breeds. As a herding breed, the German Shepherd has good impulse control and analyzes the best approach to a situation. Lastly, German Shepherd dogs are lighter than other breeds that have a history of working as police dogs. This is important, as police dog handlers must be able to lift and maneuver their canine partners in the field.
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Why Are German Shepherds Used As Military Dogs
According to a recent article in the New York Times, German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois are the most common breeds of dogs used by military operators, because they have the best overall combination of keen sense of smell, endurance, speed, strength, courage, intelligence, and adaptability to almost any climatic
How Did German Shepherds Begin Working With Police
The history of how German Shepherds began working with the police is a short but extremely layered one. It helps to look at the history of the breed first.
For example, when looking at German Shepherds for the first time, you would be forgiven for thinking that they are closely related to wolves. However, this is not the case. Instead, they are a relatively modern breed of dog, with their origins only dating back to around 1899 much later than the majority of dog owners would imagine.
Around this time, large, industrialized cities were popping up all over Germany, causing the local populations of predators to heavily decline. As a byproduct of this, the need for sheepdogs, who had previously been used to defend flocks of livestock, began to become unnecessary.
However, this was not the end for the breed, and instead, they became highly prized as strong and intelligent working dogs.
Eventually, a German man named Von Stephanitz developed a keen interest in Germanys native sheepdogs. You can read more about him on Wikipedia.
However, although Von Stephanitz greatly admired the breeds, he was not completely satisfied, and instead set his sights on finding the perfect working dog. In 1899, he would attend a dog show wherein he was shown a remarkably intelligent canine named Hektor Linksrhein.
Von Stephanitz was so impressed with Hektor that he immediately purchased him, and from there history was made.
How did German Shepherds become police dogs?
- Airedale Terrier
- Rottweiler
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How Much Does A Police German Shepherd Dog Cost
The answer to this question depends on many factors, but on average, the cost of police dogs is $8,000-$11,000. And if you think that this is too much for one a dog, just wait, there is more. This is a lower price for a police German Shepherd dog.
Harrison K-9s highly trained security working dogs can cost even six figures! A fully trained protection dog can sot you between $30,000-$80,000, with the average sale price around $50,000.
The most expensive dog we ever sold was for $230,000, and she was named Julia,
-Holley tells CNBC.
If you want to learn more about the average prices of German Shepherd dogs, you can visit the previous blog posts about that topic.
He Can Work For Hours Without Getting Tired
This breed loves to work, and they are born for that. Unlike other high-energy dog breeds that enjoy most playtime, German Shepherd most enjoy it while he is working.
Maybe at first sounds weird and you think who loves to work?, but when you love your job, you will try to spend as much as possible time working.
K-9 unit usually spends their whole shift with their dogs. Of course, this doesnt mean that they work every day, the whole day. When a neighborhood is calm, they usually patrol, train, helps, and teach other people.
Benign a part of the K-9 unit its not an easy job at all. They risk their own lives to protect ours, and we should respect that.
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Fast And Athletic Dogs
You notice that German Shepherds are big dogs, so they cant run fast, right? Wrong. The top speed of GSD is around 30 mph , and thats pretty amazing for such a dog.
For example, the top speed ever reached by the man is 44.72 km/h by Usain Bolt. So if Usain Bolt can’t outrun German Shepherd, trust us, you cant also. If you are ever attacked by a German Shepherd, the worst solution is to try to escape by running, so dont do that.
German Shepherds are also on the list of the most athletic dogs. They have strong muscles which will help them to always outperform their target or their competition.
Traits Of A Police Dog
The police department itself is very sensitive as it deals with the sensitive issues of society. The dogs used to assist the Police officers as police dogs also need to have some specific traits and features that make them strong enough to fight against a strong enemy and a ruthless criminal. Some of the major traits of a Police dog are
- They are obedient and loyal. They follow every instruction and commandment of their handler and never say NO.
- They need to be strong and bold enough to stop a criminal but not too big to control.
- They must be persistent and not getting bored with the given task.
- They should be smart and intelligent to learn things quickly.
- They must have an even temperament. Not too shy and not too aggressive.
- They must not be bitting common people and spreading fear.
- They must have an athletic and muscular body.
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Why Do Police Train Their Dogs In German
The reason that most police agencies train their dogs using German commands is actually quite simple. There is a significantly reduced risk of the K9 officer confusing a command if it is in another language than the primary language of his handler. Not all police dogs in the US are trained in German.
What Breed Is Police Dog
What breeds do they use for police dogs? The most popular breeds are German Shepherds, Belgian Malinois, Dutch Shepherds, and occasionally mixes of these breeds. Less popular, but still used at times, are Rottweilers, Doberman Pinchers, and Bouvier de Flandres.
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Eager To Please Their People
The Belgian Malinois is known to have a driving need to please their people. In the case of a Malinois working or training to work in a K-9 role, this would mean they are driven to please one person their handler.
They are willing to do things most dogs would not even consider doing, like jumping out of aircraft, walking across tightropes, swimming in the open ocean, climbing up and down ladders, and other feats it seems almost impossible to believe a dog could do.
Choosing A Police Dog
When selecting a Police dog, the foremost trait to consider is a relentless natural prey drive. When it comes to going after criminals, you do not want a dog that would give up on the task before completing the chase.
To get a suitable police dog, you could monitor an entire litter of puppies that are about two months old and then roll a ball under a bookshelf. Some of the puppies would get tired of searching for the ball, while others would go after the ball until they find it and bring it to you.
You should look out for this resilient and focused attitude and choose a puppy that would fit the job. There may also be dogs that have an unusually high level of this prey drive, and even if you brought such dogs into the police force, you should endeavor to be very careful with them.
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Why Do Cops Use German Shepherds And Not A Different Breed For Police Dogs
You might have encountered an emergency scene where probably some buildings collapsed due to an earthquake and persons were injured with a few others trapped within the ruins.
And as you might have expected, there were tons of policemen securing the perimeter, paramedics, other emergency medical care providers, and very notably, there were some fierce-looking canines.
Also, at the airports, you might have observed that these same breeds of canines are always found sniffing for explosives, drugs, and other illegal stuff. Or, at different times, they may just have been keeping watch over the arena while kited with wears that bear resemblance with the K-9 police unit.
This group of unusual but extremely popular American Police buddies are known as The German Shepherds. But what makes these German Shepherd Dogs good enough to accompany the Police on their high-risk job of securing the State? Read on to discover more.
Applications Of German Shepherd Police Dogs
German Shepherd police dogs have numerous uses in the Police and military. What the dogs can do, however, depends on the training type they receive. As already mentioned, the dogs are brilliant and can quickly grasp whatever they are taught to do even faster than their handlers would.
Some applications of the GSDs include
Before a dog is trained to attack, it must necessarily have passed its training on obedience because the bites of a GSD can inflict many injuries. However, a police GSD must be taught to attack when provoked by its handler to subdue enemies.
Trained GSDs can sniff scents of blood, which is very valuable when the task entails locating a dead or injured criminal.
5 Trailing and tracking.
Police GSDs can trail criminals by beginning from the points where the person was last seen.
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What Type Of German Shepherds Do The Police Use
Among the types of the German shepherd breeds, the working lines especially the DDR/East German working lines and Czech working lines are typically bred for military and police purposes because they have exceptional endurance when faced with demanding training compared to the show lines.
German Shepherd Police Dog Price
Since the cost of breeding and raising German shepherd puppies is not cheap, the price is expensive. The price of a puppy or adult dog varies widely depending on the breeder, location, and bloodlines.
The German shepherd police dogs price is less than $1000 for an average German shepherd police puppy while German shepherd puppies with health and performance clearances and a clear breeding record are more expensive.
If you want to purchase a fully trained adult German shepherd police dog, prepare to spend at least $10,000 to $15,000. However, you could pay more for a quality-bred adult German shepherd police dog.
Why Do Police Use German Shepherds
When you take a look at the dogs who work with police and other law enforcement authorities, you will figure out that they are mostly German Shepherds. After seeing this, you will start wondering why do police use German Shepherds. This is not something that you can only find in your country, but applicable in all parts of the world as well. You can even see dogs doing their job at the public events, airports, and other similar places. They keep on sniffing for explosives and drugs. Moreover, they have sharp eyes, which they use to figure out suspicious behavior as well.
If you are looking for a quick answer on why do police use German Shepherds, we can provide a simple answer. It is because of the unique qualities of these dogs. These dogs have excellent stamina and strength. Hence, they are in a position to work as excellent working dogs. On top of that, these dogs are in a position to work calmly under pressure as well. Due to the high intelligence in these dogs, they are highly trainable as well. On top of that, German Shephard dogs love to work. They never complain about the working conditions provided to them. They will simply keep on working, even if they have to work
History of how German Shepherds were being used as police dogs
Reasons on why do police use German Shepherds
Now lets come to the most important section of the article, where we understand the specific reasons on why the police officers are using German Shepherds as their K9 companions.
- Sentry dogs
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