ThinkQuest Team:  What do Police do?

Officer O'Connor:  Police dogs assist Police, Fire, and Search and Rescue Officers by using their keen sense of smell.  Police dogs for instance can be used for officer protection, tracking fleeing suspects or locating missing people.  The great (olfactory) or nose of the K-9 can detect illegal narcotics, explosives, missing evidence or even the presence of an accelarent used to start a fire.  Anything that has an odor the K-9 can locate it if trained properly.

Officer O'Connor:  Dogs are trained through repetition and association, and by using the already present drives in the K-9.

Officer O'Connor:  Many breed can be the best police dog.  A good trainer will recognize which dogs have the trainability and drives to be used as a police service dog.  The most common breeds used are the German Shepherd, Belgium Malinios, Labrador Retriever and Beagle to name a few.

Officer O'Connor:  Healthy diet, veterinarian check-ups, grooming and bonding time.  Most police dogs also require a lot of exercise, training and working time.  Most of these are common with most dogs.

Officer O'Connor:  I once put on a K-9 demonstration to show the capabilities of a police dog.  After I finished the demonstration and answered questions, I was walking out of the school yard when a second grader asked if my dog could go down the slide on the playground.  Much to my surprise the dog on command climbed the ladder, sat down and slid down the slide several times while the second grade class cheered.  This unscheduled, unrehearsed act turned out to be the best part of the demonstration for the class.