You probably have a lot of questions regarding police dogs. Are police dogs neutered? Are they spayed? What they do and so much more. In reality, these dogs are trained to be special and they are. As such, there are a lot of interesting things you should know about them.
Are police dogs neutered and spayed or ‘’intact’’?
Here we have one of the main questions. Are police dogs neutered? There is no just one, simple answer you need to know about. First of all, we cannot generalize the matter. This means that not all police dogs are neutered and spayed. In reality, a small part of these dogs are neutered or spayed. Most of them are not.
There are a few additional things you need to know as well. For instance, dogs that are sniffing for drugs are more commonly neutered or spayed. This is done so they can focus the powerful sense of smell on finding the drugs and not on distractions. Other types of police dogs are far less commonly neutered/spayed.
Another difference comes in the form of type of the law enforcement agency and the state or country. This varies more than you can imagine and we can see laws that mandate that all dogs of this kind are spayed or neutered. In other locations, there are no such laws so they are ‘’intact’’.
We must add that many female police dogs are spayed. This is done due to their heat cycle which will affect their obedience and how they operate. This is something police officers must avoid at all costs, hence spaying is mandatory if not extremely recommended.
Police dog training
This is probably another thing you all want to know about police dogs. Yes, they are trained and their training is more complicated than you may believe. First of all, police dogs usually come from Europe, from prestigious breeders.
But, some agencies may even adopt dogs from a shelter and use them as police dogs. Others may purchase from local breeders. There is no way we can give you just one answer regarding the question.
Their training starts at an early age and most of them are trained in the German language. Some are trained in Dutch while others are trained in English. The reason for that is so an ordinary person cannot give commands to police dogs.
Their handler will have to understand that, specific language and use it when giving commands. Of course, only basic commands in the German language are needed.
Police dogs must adapt to life in the city as well. They must stay calm and react well and properly when surrounded by people, cars, crowds and so much more. The ultimate goal is to complete the mission and there must be no issues or complications which can literally cost people lives!
Endurance Training
All police dogs have massive and consuming endurance training. This is once again, mandatory. These dogs must be able to work for hours and complete the mission. In some cases, they must complete their task without any water or food. That’s why you can see police dogs running and jumping on the training ground all the time.
Certain dogs are chosen for specific purposes due to their natural predispositions. The best example is a bloodhound. These dogs are known for tracking capabilities and they are almost always used for finding missing persons.
Other dogs are used for finding drugs. Regardless of the dog breed, a dog must have specialized training. This is used in order to adapt the dog to do a specific thing. There is no need in telling you that a dog trained for finding missing persons cannot be used for finding drugs.
Each dog has its own task and responsibility. Training for each purpose or agency will last between 8 months and 1 year. In some cases, it can last much longer.
The training of the police dog must make him obedient at any given moment. A dog must obey every single command without any issues or delays. This can make a massive difference during the mission. Due to this reason, all police dogs must be:
- Very intelligent
- Obedient
- Powerful and with endurance
- Sociable
Only a dog that has all of these characteristics can be used as a police dog. If there are any obedience problems or he is unable to perform well, a police dog will be removed from the service. This happens more commonly than you believe and it affects all law enforcement agencies and all dogs.
Most police dogs are male
Here we have an interesting fact to cover. Many people believe that all police dogs are male while some believe that they are all female. The reality is different. Most of them are male, but there are female police dogs as well. On average, 10-15% of them are female.
This is done due to the fact female dogs are more protective and have protective instincts in general. They are more maternal if you prefer. As such, male dogs fit better certain departments and they are more useful and more commonly used.
Police dogs retire as well
One thing you may have heard is that police dogs don’t have retirement potions and that most of them end up in shelters. These are myths and nothing more. In reality, all police dogs will retire. This happens at age 7-8 and they are adopted by their handlers. A handler is a person who worked with that dog for years. Most of the police dogs (depending on the breed) will live between 11 and 14 years.
The final word
Still want to know all about police dogs. Are police dogs neutered? Are they special? Well, now you know all the interesting and main facts about these amazing dogs. All we can add is that yes, these are special dogs and they are mandatory in order for the police to do their job. Without police dogs, the world would be less secure!
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