All dogs have the potential for heroic acts. Beloved pets have saved their families from house fires or children from attacks by other dogs. But for an exclusive set of dogs with the right temperament and skills, heroism is a daily thing. They are police dogs.
Police dogs in K9 units have a variety of jobs, such as helping their human handlers catch suspects, find hidden drugs or explosives, and search for and rescue victims of crimes, accidents, and disasters. Each of these jobs requires a special kind of dog that can function in dangerous, sometimes life-and-death situations. They must unfailingly follow their handler’s commands to ensure both complete their tasks safely and successfully.
Certain breeds tend to be most effective in these roles. So let’s look at those breeds and what’s required of them.
What Are the Traits of a Police Dog?
Traits
Police dogs are large, physically, and mentally strong working dogs. They are naturally capable of working closely with human handlers and even protecting them if necessary. They can aggressively chase and knock down a criminal or be calm and friendly. They are confident and fearless. Typical traits in a police dog include:
- They are intelligent and quick to learn.
- They want to please their handlers and are motivated by rewards.
- They act aggressively when needed; they don’t shy away from danger.
- They are naturally protective.
- They have a superior sense of smell.
Another important trait is agility, as a search may require jumping through an open window or climbing a ladder.
Obedience is imperative. Because dogs are often in life-threatening situations, they must strictly follow all commands. Part of the dog’s duty is to protect the handler, and both dog and handler act as partners. They rely on each other for safety and a job well done.
Prospective K9 dogs must endure and pass extensive training, including training with their handlers. The United States Police Canine Association provides annual certification for K9 teams to ensure they maintain the highest standards.
Dogs chosen for law enforcement have a higher than average prey drive (the primal instinct to hunt, kill, and eat food). This translates into hunting and capturing criminals and searching for and finding items, substances, and human victims.
Popular Police Dog Breeds
Which breeds best match the desired traits? For police dogs, German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois are most commonly selected. Other popular breeds include:
- Bloodhounds;
- Bouvier des Flandres;
- Doberman Pinschers;
- German Shorthaired Pointers;
- Giant Schnauzers;
- Labrador Retrievers;
- Rottweilers.
This is not a finite list, though, as additional breeds may also be selected for specific tasks.
Police Dogs’ Jobs
K9s serve in one or more of three general functions: apprehension, search and rescue, and detection. Some dogs serve in a single-purpose capacity. They may be used only for detecting odors, for example. Others are dual-purpose, capable of working in multiple categories, such as odor detection and patrol. Most police dogs are on the job for six to nine years.
Apprehension
Apprehension, or patrol work, involves helping their handlers capture suspects. These are the dogs we see fearlessly searching out, chasing down, tackling, and even biting suspects to keep them from escaping. As you might imagine, the dogs often put their own lives at risk in these situations, as some suspects are armed.
Herding breeds, such as Belgian Malinois, German Shepherd, and Dutch Shepherd, are ideal for this type of work.
Search and Rescue
Whether it’s lost people, crime victims, or people trapped after a natural disaster or accident, police dogs are trained to find them, living or deceased.
Breeds commonly used for this work include Bloodhound, Basset Hound, Coonhound, Beagle, St. Bernard, German Shepherd, and Belgian Malinois.
Detection
Dogs are perfect for this role because it involves putting their noses to work. Compared to humans’ five million scent receptors, dogs have 225 million. Police dogs can be trained to detect almost anything with a scent. They are used to find narcotics, explosives, and illegal substances. Usually, each dog is trained to focus on only one kind of scent.
Breeds commonly used for single-purpose detection work include Labrador Retriever, Bloodhound, German Shorthaired Pointer, German Shepherd, Belgian Malinois, and Dutch Shepherd.
A New Type of Detection Dog
In this high-tech age, cyber crimes are inevitable. In response, the Fairfax County Police Department in Virginia recently introduced a new member of their K9 team—a Labrador Retriever appropriately named Browser. Instead of detecting narcotics or explosives, Browser sniffs out electronic media storage, such as thumb drives, phones, and hard drives, by detecting a chemical common to electronic devices. He is currently only one of two dogs in Virginia trained for this, but we can expect to see more like Browser in the future across the country.
The Case for Shelter Dogs
There are probably a few dogs in any shelter who are not fit for life as family pets. But some of them may fit the police dog job description. In recent years, some police departments have included rescue dogs in their ranks.
For example, the Animal Rescue League of Iowa and Universal K9 in San Antonio, Texas, identify dogs with the right traits and train them for police work. As a result, their shelter dogs have been placed with police departments across the country.
A traditional purebred dog can cost local communities thousands of dollars. Shelter dogs are much more affordable (sometimes free) for law enforcement agencies with limited budgets. It also gets more dogs out of the shelters, especially some who would otherwise be hard to adopt.
A Parting Reminder
Law enforcement agencies have strict requirements for police dogs because lives depend on them. As a result, these dogs are high in prey drive, intelligent, are dedicated to their handlers, and follow commands to the last syllable.
Police dog breeds are primarily purebred working dogs, though lately, it’s been shown that some mixed-breed shelter dogs can do the job, too.
Whatever the breed, these dogs work hard, risk their lives, and play their part in keeping us all safe. Just like their human partners, these dogs are true heroes!