Hey Canine Readers,
K9 veterans come in many forms and do so much for mans best friend in regards to protection and compassion.
As a matter of fact K9 Veterans day is only two days away (3/13/21). Although this may be true I wanted to share some background on these K9 Heroes in regards to their training and retirement.
While Basic Obedience training is where it all begins, their training goes above and beyond that to complete their job. In fact for any sport or job you wish your dog to have they need to have a strong basic obedience and focus to accomplish that job at a proficient if not advanced level.
These dogs are typically German Shepherds or Belgian Malinois but other breeds have also been used. Some of the best tracking dogs are Basset hounds, Bloodhounds, and labs.
Two common classifications of K9 Training Dogs :
Patrol –office protection, suspect apprehension, area and building clearance and security in sensitive and controlled areas
Detection – find narcotics or explosives. Only one or the other never both.
Single or Dual Purpose K9 Trained Dogs:
Single purpose: patrol duties, detection duties, Tracking duties (lost people) or cadaver detection.
Dual Purpose: Combine any of the single purpose duties into one dog.
They typically serve 6-9 years before retirement.
For more information about law enforcement K9s check out The National Police Dog Foundation.
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