They used them for security purposes, for hunting and in wars which is what we still use them for today. The dog collar also changed, they had spikes attached to their collars as to help defend against wolves. ("Police Canines in History," n.d.) When it came to the military and war time, they benefitted from canine/soldier teams. “During wartime, dogs were trained for certain important roles: sentry dog, scout or patrol dog, messenger dog, or mine dog.” ("Police Canines in History," n.d.) Since dogs benefited the military why not us them in everyday policing and that’s exactly what they did. “Dogs have been used by law enforcement agencies for over 100 years.” ("Police Canines in History," n.d.) In 1899 Belgium police finally began properly training dogs for police work. Due to this it enhanced the popularity of using dogs for police work all around the world. The United States began using dogs in law enforcement during the 70s. Drug abuse during the 1970s in America was at a very high level and law enforcement needed something they could use to combat drugs and dogs was a natural …show more content…
Labrador retrievers and Belgian Malinois are used as well. Most police dogs are male because of their natural aggression and willingness to learn. The dog lives with the handler and typically apart of the family. When a dog is involved in law enforcement they are highly intelligent, naturally aggressive, strong, and they possess a keen sense of smell. K9 officers choose their dogs from many different outlets. They typically choose dogs bred for that line of work. Europe has a reputation for possessing trained dogs superior to the United States. Their standards are very strict and require the dogs to meet a high level of decisive factors like the ones discussed above. The con when it comes to European dogs is of course, the cost. The shipping alone can get quite expensive. Despite this drawback officers believe the dogs pay for themselves through all the work they do on a day to day basis. Labradors and lesser energy driven dogs are ideal for their use in sniffing for bombs because if a bomb is found they would rather the dog not be so anxious to paw and possibly cause a form of an explosion. The level of dog training is being raised every day. It is essential that law enforcement is capable of performing their jobs at a high