Police Dogs

Called a K-9 unit, police dogs are carefully and completely trained. They wear badges and vests showing they are officers of the law.

Training in different areas of police work are essential to a canine officer. Some are more suited for drug detection while others are better sniffing out bombs.

German Shepherds are the most common breed of dog used in police work. They were first used in Europe at the turn of the century and gradually the idea caught on in the U.S.

The K-9 officer spends his entire life with his human officer. They have a deep bond and trust between them.

When the time comes for the dog to retire from his job, quite often his human handler will take him in as the family pet, thereby, the canine lives out his life with the people he loves and protects.

The dogs help keep officers and suspects from deadly harm by going in after the perpetrator and holding him until the arrest is made.

How many times have you watched a K-9 in action on a cop show and root for the dog to "git 'em!"?

You see drug and bomb sniffing dogs in almost all transportation areas all over the world.

Many of the breeds of these dogs are hounds or hound mixes with great noses.

They are trained to identify dozens of components that may be used in bombs.

And drug dogs are trained to search for specific drugs and the various substances in which they are transported to avoid detection.

When the K-9 partners are not on the job, they visit schools, spread the word about anti-drug use and put on exhibitions for the public.