Police Service Dogs From North American K-9 Services LLC

An Introduction To The Police Dog


There are many applications and uses of police dogs within Law Enforcement. It has been shown that police K9 units have been extremely effective in assisting police officers in doing their jobs and overall it has been shown that a police K9 unit can be an effective tool in preventing crime.

 

Police K9’s are capable of doing the following:


  • Tracking for missing persons
  • Tracking for fleeing criminals
  • Searching for evidence in large areas
  • Crowd Control
  • Narcotics Detection / Explosives Detection / Cadaver Detection
  • Handler Protection
  • Building Searches and Scouts of large areas for Criminal apprehension

 

It is recommended that the handler be a good police officer proactive and dedicated to their profession and fellow officer. The handler should be an efficient worker and able to work with little to no supervision. The handler should be a good report writer because it is very important to document the K9’s progress in training and to document the K9’s work in the field. And just as important, the handler should be in good physical condition able to withstand the physical challenges of handling a Police K9.

 

The best breeds for Police K9 Units are German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois’. Both breeds have attributes that make them excellent work dogs.

 

Both breeds are most commonly used for police work due to their size and stable temperament. These attributes make them suitable for police work. Both breeds are known for their stamina and their desire to protect their handler and their willingness to serve make them great candidates for police work.

 

The German Shepherd's and Belgian Malinois’ hearing acuteness is about eight times that of a human being. For police uses the hearing ability is used mainly in area or building searches but can be useful in other aspects as well.

 

It is sufficient to say that the speed of a German Shepherd and Belgian Malinois is greater than that of a human. Many trainers compare there speed and stamina to that of world class athletes.

 

The power of smell is the most important asset the police dog possesses. Generally speaking, the dog's power of smell is about 100 times that of a human. This is consistent with the thoughts of Dr. Moulton of the United States, Dr. Kalmus of England and Dr. Wright of Canada. The dog has the ability to distinguish between individual odors and can follow a track of this odor ignoring all other smells present. Their powers of smell are such that the Courts in Canada and most in the United States will accept "expert evidence" of the dog's performance on a track.

 

The dog’s acute sense of smell has been compared to a human’s vision. While a human enters a large area and scans the area visually carefully noting everything and everyone, a dog may enter the same area and use his nose to do the same exact thing.

 

Its been said that a dog’s sense of smell is so powerful that may smell pleasant aroma of beef stew cooking on the stove, the dog has the ability to not only smell the beef stew but all the ingredients that went into the beef stew.

 

It is for this reason that the German Shepherd and the Belgian Malinois has made tremendous contributions to Law Enforcement, the Military and the Private Sector as Working Dogs.