Police Dogs History

Introduction
Humans, for a number of purposes, have utilized dogs since the beginning of time. In fact, the canine was the first domesticated animal. Dogs are a subspecies of the grey wolf, which is known as one of the most efficient hunting and tracking animals. Since its domestication, the dog has been the most widely used and kept working, hunting, and pet animal in history. The dog breeds that we have today are for the most part, relatively new. Even though dogs were domesticated thousands of years ago, most breeds are only a few hundred years old. In that time, breeders have pushed out the behaviors that are undesirable to the customer and bred purposely to keep certain characteristics. Through this breeding, the subspecies has been diversified
This began by around 1907. Between 1907 and 1952 there were only fourteen police dog programs, all cluttered around the Northeast, with the exception of Berkeley California and Muncie, Indiana. When the 1960s hit, the modern era of police dogs began in the United States. Canine teams were appearing all of the country and the movement was considered to be a fad. (Dorriety, J. K. 2005) By the time the 1970s rolled around in the United States, the use of police dogs was a mainstay. The canines were now considered part of the police force itself. Some of them even received their own badges and uniforms. (Police Canines in History 2013) As of 1989, there a over seven thousand canine teams across the United States. These teams range in size, from one hundred twenty five in Philadelphia, to smaller departments that may only have one or two teams. Both rural and urban departments have found ways to utilize the canine as apart of their department. (Dorriety, J. K.
These dogs are often times preferred by law enforcement agencies because of their strength, intelligence and ease of teaching, size, obedience, and their intimidating presence. The German Shepard is used worldwide as a narcotics and explosive detection dog, as well as tracking and apprehending human suspects that may be missing or wanted. The Labrador Retriever, or Lab, is another widely used police canine. Labs are even tempered and are calm around children ad the elderly, which makes these dogs a friendlier alternative to the German Shepard. The Lab is a very athletic dog and loves to play. Labs are most frequently used for detection work in law enforcement. This means they are commonly used to track human suspects, but are not used for suspect apprehension. The Belgian Malinois is another popular dog used by many law enforcement agencies across the country. This breed is used for things such as detecting the odor of illegal drugs, explosives, and accelerants, and for tracking and apprehension of suspects. The Dutch Shepard, native of Holland, is another working dog. This dog breed is used for odor detection of drugs and explosives, along with tracking and apprehending suspects. Finally, a breed that most people don’t think about when it comes to police dogs is the Giant Schnauzer. This is another German originated breed from the 17th Century. The Giant Schnauzer was first bred to assist on