POLICE DOGS QUESTIONS AND VERIFIED ANSWERS

POLICE DOGS
Police Dogs - ANSWER Many different working roles...
 Patrol
 Tracking
 Narcotics
 Explosives
 Cadaver
 Arson
•Some dogs are cross-trained

Patrol Dogs - ANSWER Form of intimidation
 Prevents conflict and fleeing suspects during arrests
 Apprehend fleeing criminals
 Dogs will protect themselves and the handlers on command
 Also if their handler is attack

Are Patrol Dogs Trained to be Aggressive? - ANSWER No, the dog views the job very
differently
 Bite work is a trained skill
 teaches the dog when to bite, and when not to bite
 Also teaches them the correct way to bite
 Dogs can be extremely social off the job

Detection Jobs - ANSWER Narcotics: detect illegal drugs
 Explosives: detect explosive materials
 Alert to the scent
 passive alert: sitting
 active or aggressive alert: pawing or digging at source
 Can detect masked scents
 Dogs can separate odors

Following the Scent - ANSWER Tracking - follows exact path of a person
 Needs a starting point, nose to ground work
 Air-scent - picks up the scent of a person, even if it has been dispersed by wind or rain,
and follows the smell to the person
 Needs general location to start
 Small scent to more concentrated scent
 Article searches
 Find items attached to the scent of a person
 Used as evidence (e.g. weapons)
 Following the scent if shed skin cells