I’m in crunch mode, preparing for the IAABC Conference. Here is a guest post from Maria Rainier. Her bio is below.

With a keen sense of smell, profound hearing and the discipline to not consume doughnuts all day, police dogs have become the next law enforcement team. Police departments across the United States are struggling to pay salaries, benefits and retirement plans to the human sector of law enforcement. What about the K9 sector? Aside from the occasional dog bone and police protection program, what benefits and perks come to police dogs serving on the force and what are their duties?

The Inception of K-9 Police Task Force

In 1907, the first known canine program started in New York; by the 1950’s, police dogs were prominent in the law enforcement field and today, there are more than 7,000 police dogs employed in the police force (Wallentine) and private sectors. K-9 dogs are commonly associated with drug searches, protecting officers, detaining suspects, search-and-rescue programs and maintaining public order. One of the most prominent but not positive records of police dogs, were photos taken during the 1963 March on Washington, led by Martin Luther King, Jr. Since then, K-9 units have had to prove their worth and value on the police squad.

K-9 Qualifications

Man’s best friend has become cop’s best work partner. A dog can smell up to 50 times more than a human – becoming a very valuable entity when sniffing out drugs or bombs, searching for people or actively hunting suspects (Grabianowski). Dog’s sensitive nose allows them to sniff out specific odors they are trained to look for, even if the smell is being covered up by other odors. A drug dealer can hide their stash in as much peanut butter they want; if a police dog is trained to sniff out that drug, there’s no hope for salvaging your stash or your freedom. According to Grabianowski’s article, How Police Dogs Work, K-9 Breston, officer of the Cheektowago Police Department, sniffed out 1,500 pounds of marijuana in a storage facility at one time.

Maintaining Order

The mere presence of a large, loping beast, exposing sharp canines and the ability to outrun a human is a discouraging factor to the common criminals. In many cases, as Officer Dan Smith of the New York Cheektowaga Police Department says, ‘When I bring out [Breston], all of a sudden they know they can’t reason with him, they can’t intimidate him, they can’t try to scare him,’ (Grabianowski). K-9 dogs can outrun and detain suspects and fugitives with almost little effort, giving their human companions time and opportunity to procure the assailant. When it is man against man, the competition is equal but dog against man, gives the police for an upper hand (or paw).

K-9 Perks

There’s not severance pay, sick days or worker’s compensation for a police dog, but there are many perks to the job. A police dog works usually 60 hours a week and is employed for about six years, working hard days and nights and sometimes, depending on the case, without a break (Grabianowski). Being part of a K-9 unit is similar to any other job – the dog needs to be qualified. They have to be in remarkable shape, they need to be energetic and able to make plenty of arrests, while maintaining impeccable conviction records, not to mention the grueling training a potential police dog must go through to even be considered for the position. After obedience training and a specified training, honing in on the particular skills the task force needs, the dog is ready to go through the rigorous hiring process to find a suitable partner and task force (Grabianowski).

Once a dog has passed the qualifications and hired onto a police force, he is suited with his human companion and together, they are a K-9 unit. The unit is usually together 24 hours a day and seven days a week except for once a month when the police dog is required to attend additional training (Grabianowski). The police dog has his own seat in a K-9 patrol car so when the K-9 unit has to do their patrol shift and chase a suspect, the team is ready. Since the team is inseparable, the other has to accompany his partner on their various, individual tasks. If the human partner is subpoenaed to court, his canine companion is accompanying him. The reversal is true: if a canine is sent out to investigate a drug or missing person lead, his partner never leaves his side. And at the end of the day, the two are off home to bed (Grabianowski).

Honorable Officer of the Law

A K-9 dog, after receiving his training and usually a certification of becoming a police dog, is part of the law enforcement team. They are treated just like, and sometimes better, than any other police officer on the job. When going into hostile situations, where violence and life-threatening situations may arise, some police dogs are required to wear bullet proof vests. Sadly though, many dogs die in the line of duty but thankfully, their service and efforts to keep America safe are recognized. Police forces using K-9 dogs often build memorial sites, monuments and official lists of police dogs killed on duty. In Jacksonville, FLA., a life-size memorial statue recognizes the fallen dogs that have served the police force (Grabianowski). Last August, a memorial service was held for Bandit, a police dog who was killed in Amherst, Ohio in the line of duty after serving five years with the police station (Sangiacomo, 2010).

Canine Benefits

It wasn’t until 1997 was an association found to protect police dogs. National Police Canine Association (NPCA) was founded to protect the street-working dog with certification, training and legal enforcement. Go to http://www.npca.net/ to learn more about the NPCA and what they do to protect working dogs.

Police dogs may not have a 401K or vacation pay, but they do have a respectable job and duty to protect the citizens and keep the streets safe. They work hard with little perks and risk their lives to keep drugs off the streets, people safe and the police department happy.

Sources:
Wallentine, K. (n.d.). International consultation and canine services exclusively to law enforcement.
Grabianowski, E. (n.d.). How police dogs work.
Sangiacomo, M. (2010, August 30). Memorial service for police dog is today [Web log message]

Maria Rainier is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at First in Education, playing with the newly revealed degree calculator and researching what college engineering degrees pay best. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.

My Big Guy

I knew this was coming. Just last Friday we were at the vet, and even though his new pain medication seemed to be working very well, we discussed fixing his knees. I seemed to be the only person who thought he could handle the surgery and the recovery, but to me the real question was being able to afford it and maybe at the same time stem cell therapy for his arthritis.

I was wrong, and on some level this might even be better, but it’s going to take a while before I am convinced, if ever.

I miss you. I miss hearing your tail thumping before I even get downstairs in the morning. I miss you bringing me a shoe when I come home. Or just bringing me a shoe because you’re excited and can’t think of anything else to do. I miss your “rumble” when you lay near me on the sofa. I miss you almost taking out my knee when you lean up against me.

You were a good boy. Never forget that.

A couple of years ago a relative from Germany came to the U.S. for a visit. His father was one of my grandfather’s seven brothers.

Before he came over he contacted me (and quite a few others, including some relatives I didn’t know I had) via e-mail and sent over some pictures, including the one to the left. (Click on it to see a larger version.)

That’s my grandfather in New York City, probably around 1940 or so. (I’m pretty sure that’s the Madison Avenue Bridge in the background, but I’m not sure where he is seated. 145th Street Bridge?)

Knowing me, you can probably guess the first questions that came to my mind: Who is the dog? What is his name? Where did they get him? (“Where the hell is he sitting?” was number 5 or so.)

I sent a copy to my sister, who showed it my father. He was already in pretty bad shape by this time, suffering from dementia and not communicating very much or very effectively. He teared up, talked about how wonderful the dog had been, and exclaiming that he had saved the family from a break-in to their apartment. He didn’t finish the story, unfortunately.

Based on my sketchy knowledge of our family’s history, this photo is from sometime well before 1950, probably closer to 1940. After 65+ years this dog reached out to a man who sometimes forgot his grandchildren’s names.

I’ve thought about this a lot the past few weeks. We tend to dwell on the things we took for granted during a time of loss, and this story serves as a poignant reminder of my father, while also reminding me to appreciate the rest of my family while I have it.

I think I’m back. I hope you’ll keep reading.

The Best Dog. Ever.

So, here’s something to tide you over. Shauna Stewart of Fido and Wino is running a series on rescue owners and their dogs. It’s been a great series so far and guess who’s featured right now? That’s right, the best dog in the world.

Hope to “see” you with some new stuff Friday.

Annie needs a home

Annie is an (estimated) eight year old shepherd mix. Her owner was killed in a motorcycle accident. After the accident, in the confusion at her home, Annie panicked and ran away. She lived outdoors on her own in the area for a year before she was finally trapped: emaciated and in poor shape. All along she had been visiting her home, looking for her human.

When she was finally captured she landed in a shelter, where she lived for a year without finding a home. She was on the euthanasia list when Pets Alive rescued her. Annie takes a while to warm up to people (who could blame her?) but once she does she is a complete sweetheart. She would do best in a home where she is the only dog.

If you can’t take Annie in you can help Annie and Pets Alive with a sponsorship. The work a sanctuary like Pets Alive does is not cheap – they are essentially taking in the cases that many shelters would give up on because they don’t have the resources. Cases like Annie.

Which is more work, a puppy or a baby? Tough call.

A puppy is hard work. Ms. Abramson’s friend Dana says “The first week I felt I had adopted a human infant…” I remember feeling that way with Caffeine — except I swear my son was easier. There’s housetraining, socialization, bite inhibition, adequate exercise and of course, those vet bills! And people give puppies as gifts?

A fully grown dog is a bit easier — but frankly if you’re doing it right, they’re a bit of work too. The exercise requirement doesn’t really go away. If you slacked off on your training, a few “cute” behaviors become an outright nuisance. And those vet bills certainly don’t go away!

The Puppy Diaries series started last July. I hope there are many more entries coming before the Times wraps it up.

The NY Times has done a great job the past few years of embracing “new media” and the Puppy Diaries have been no exception. Look at the great photos and videos they have uploaded to flickr: