NEW SOUTH WALES, Australia: Good police dogs are hard to find. So hard, in fact, that the New South Wales Police Force Dog Unit is 'making' them instead.
Adult German Shepherds good enough to make the dog unit are in short supply. In fact, the NSW Police canine squad is facing a crisis - it is 75% short of its target strength and has no available canine replacements if a dog falls sick or is otherwise unavailable to report for duty.
Chief Inspector Julie Middlemiss and veterinarian Rob Zammit have come up with a solution: instead of leaving canine recruitment to chance, they are going to 'design' the perfect police dog. Using an in-house breeding program which combines genetics, behavioral science and new veterinary techniques to breed perfect police puppies.
"You can't just go to a breeder or pet shop or look in the papers and buy a [police] dog," Chief Insp. Middlemiss told the Brisbane Times.
"We were going out cap in hand, on the streets saying if you've got a German Shepherd that you're looking for a home for, we'd love to take it on. Probably one out of 10 dogs we were offered we would be able to use," Dr. Zammit said.
According to Wikipedia, German shepherds are "highly intelligent, agile and well-suited to active working environments." German Shepherds are also a favored choice for police work, guarding, search and rescue, therapy and in the military.
Under the new breeding program, elite police canines from Australia and overseas are mated with retired or specially-selected breeding Shepherds in the hope that their 'police dog genes' are passed on. The puppies are then tested to ensure both that their bodies will stand up to the rigors of police work and also to avoid investing thousands of dollars training the wrong puppy. Geneticists at Sydney University use early behavioral patterns to determine whether a puppy is likely to become a good police dog. While DNA can now tell a canine's true pedigree, it still can't pinpoint particular traits.
|
“Probably one out of 10 dogs we were offered we would be able to use.” Veterinarian Rob Zammit
|
The NSW Police Force isn't the first to try to breed better police dogs. According to Breeding Better Dogs, the United States military canine program developed a program designed to improve the performance of dogs for military purposes. The program was called "Bio Sensor" which later on became the "Super Dog" program. Based on their research, they found that neurological stimulation exercises given early in life can give a dog an advantage. The program involved five exercises administered from the third to the sixteenth day of a pup's life. Noted benefits of the program included improved cardiovascular performance, astronger heart, stronger adrenal glands, greater tolerance to stress and stronger resistance to disease.
There is a long history of dogs being involved in police work. According to howstuffworks.com, European police forces were using bloodhounds as early as the 18th century. However, countries like Belgium and Germany did not formalize the training process until World War I. The practice continued amidst the Second World War. News of the dog's usefulness during combat spread and police dogs became an integral part of law enforcement.
Today police dogs, also known as K-9 units, are more than mere assistants to their human handlers. For the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit which was attended by 21 world leaders, Australia's frontline security included 22 specially-trained Labrador Retrievers. During the 2005 London suicide bomb attack, 14 dogs and respective handlers also displayed awe-inspiring heroism when they braved the bomb site to check for secondary explosives and ensure the safe rescue of the victims. The heroic dogs were awarded the PDSA Gold Medal.
NSW Police Force puppy-raising coordinator Michelle Sahyoun said she was raising 56 puppies and was expecting another 70 over the next two years. "It's a really special dog that makes a police dog," she said.
i never knew that a lot of aspects go into the breeding of the perfect police dog. german shepherds are not only very smart, they are also very loyal and loving.
just a thought.. i got me a german shephered and he the best but what if you know.. the dog don't want no police work.. they just wanna be dogs
i seriously do not think doggies will think of those things that is too human a perspective for canines
it just really bothers me how they might be playing with dog genetics and the way they train these dogs to become the perfect police dog. i just hope that no in-breeding happens and the dogs are given enough food and rest after training.
i know that dogs are indeed very helpful in crime fighting but i just get quite bothered when i see them being overworked and underfed.
I still don't like messin' wid genetics but if its for the benefit of the country, then i guess this is a good thing. I just hope that the dogs are given time to play, and you know, just be a regular dog.
Im sure the police dogs are given enough rest and food.. I mean after all how can they catch the bad guys if they are starved and tired.. and besides, their handlers are real experts.. they should know better..
i wonder if cats can ever be productive members of society? i mean, dogs are always trained to do all sorts of things but i have yet to see a bomb sniffing cat or a seeing eye cat....lol
i know this is good for the society and all, but i really don't like the idea of messing with genetics. poor dogs don't have a chance to be just dogs, you know? they are bred to work and they would never have the chance for a loved doggy's life...
are german shepherds the only breed they can train to be police dogs? can't they use like retrievers or huskies? these breeds are also very smart and i think they would be more than capable in doing a good job.
I think cats are productive as it is i mean they are not as out there as dogs but they are helpful to humans in their own ways.
I think its pointless to compare cats to dogs because really cats are cats and dogs are dogs and though both are four legged they will never have the same qualities so we pet owners should learn to accept that. its unfair to pets to pit them against one another when both are only trying to coexist.
i just don't agree with breeding so many dogs to train as police dogs. millions of dogs are euthanized every year in shelters. i think they should first try to see if the dogs in shelters are still trainable and if they are, at least they don't have to be put to sleep.
i agree with sanya. there are a lot of dogs in shelters that are still highly trainable and would be a good addition to the police force. it's just really sad that millions of dogs still end up being put to sleep because there are just too many of them.
Well you heard what the experts say, it takes a special dog to make it to the police force so i guess you really have to breed em.. sad though.. creating more when there are others that could be saved.
Mutant? you make it sound like they take dogs to a mad lab.. i think you got the picture wrong, no one's messin with genetics here.. i think they know what they are doing. this is not some wacko science experiment.
Mixing breeds is an experiment and sometimes experiments don't really go well. What's going to happen right? I don't like messing with genetics. Why not just train some dogs to do police work? they may be worthy. some dogs are smarter than some humans i know. LOL!
police dogs are really needed in the fight against crime so if the police say that they will have a problem as to where to get the dogs, then i guess genetically designing them is a good enough reason to do it.
Yeah i agree w/ tony the people who do these are professionals and i think they will not let any harm come to the dogs.
i disagree with Nadine as to the need of genetically designing dogs just to have the perfect police dogs. its like playing God without thinking about the consequences. i'm sure there are other ways of getting around this problem without having to go to this extreme.
i guess as long as they leave it with the pros, then i guess scientifically designing dogs is alright. personally, i don't really mind. i don't think that these geneticists would do or create a monster anyway.
I think you are all missing the point. They are not messing with genetics, they are using genetics to develop breeding strategies. The vet mentioned in the article, Rob Zammit, is very experienced and knows a lot about canine genetics.
Genetic testing is doing a lot of good work in the canine world. It is helping to develop breeding plans so that genetic diseases can hopefully be bred out of existence. This is extremely important.
hey aaron, good luck if they can breed out genetic diseases. but the fact that they still exist means there is a reason for their continued existence. maybe they co-exist with something desirable. But if it were up to me, i'd breed super police dog, not just german shepherds.