Police Dog Training 101

Police dogs are more than just novelty acts.  They’re not just some PR stunt pulled off by particular law enforcement divisions.  They are more than just mere tricks to make the police department look “cute.”  Police dogs perform very serious functions, and police dog training is a very serious business.

Police Dog Training In History

Ever since two bloodhounds were dispatched by Sir Charles Warren to aid the Metropolitan London Police in their search for the elusive Jack the Ripper in 1888, police dogs have been a staple of many police departments in many federal jurisdictions all over the world.

In fact, police dog training can be traced as far back as the law enforcement procedures in the ancient Roman empire when canines were used to track escaped prisoners.

Even before the much ballyhooed Jack the Ripper case, in 1859, the Belgium police have already commissioned the usage of police dogs to aid law officers during their night shifts.

This rich history goes to show how capable dogs are in the maintenance of peace and order and in helping us achieve a priceless sense of security.

Police Dog Training Is Focused On Assisting In Law Enforcement Procedures

Unlike the general impression created by popular movies that star very intelligent dogs, being a police dog isn’t about law enforcement per se.  Being a police dog is all about assisting police officers in a variety of law enforcement procedures.

Hence, police dog training is focused on the many aspects of law enforcement assistance. These are:

- Chase and hold.  Police dog training may teach the subject how to pursue and hold a suspect in flight.  Police dogs will have faster speed and better mobility than police officers, after all.

- Tracking.  Tracking is an inherent skill of the canine specie.  With their superior sense of smell, canines who undergo police dog training can track missing people or things via association with scent left behind on objects readily available for the police department.

- Corpse detection.  Police dog training also produces search dogs which are used to cover wide expanses in search of deceased individuals whose bodies have been hidden to hide evidence of the crime.

- Sniffing out illegal substances.  This is, perhaps, the most popular aspect of police dog training, as most of the commissioned police dogs that people encounter are trained to sniff out banned substances like illegal drugs, bombs, gunpowder and the likes.  These are the police dogs we often see in airports, malls and venues where dignitaries and state officials gather

Can Any Canine Be Eligible For Police Dog Training?

Not all breeds of dogs are eligible for police dog training.  Only dogs belonging to the sports breed can be accepted in training academies.  And not just any dog from such a breed will be accepted.  An applicant will have to undergo a battery of tests before he can be subjected to police dog training.

It is a common misconception that only male dogs can be eligible for police dog training.  After all, a female dog in heat may just create more commotion instead of helping establish order, right?  However, even female dogs can be accepted into police dog training centres.  They just have to be temporarily retired whenever they’re in heat, whenever they’re pregnant and whenever they are rearing pups who are less than 2 months old.

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