Training process for police dogs as collaborating partners

with the police departments to identify crimes.

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INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I


According to the Free Encyclopedia Wikipedia , "the domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is a
subspecies of the gray wolf (Canis lupus), a member of the Canidae family of the mammalian order
Carnivora. The term "domestic dog" is generally used for both domesticated and feral varieties. The dog
was the first domesticated animal and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and pet animal in
human history. The word "dog" may also mean the male of a canine species,

as opposed to the word
"bitch" for the female of the species".
Dogs have lived and worked with humans in so many roles that they have earned the unique
nickname, "man's best friend", a phrase used in other languages as well. They have been bred for herding
livestock, hunting (e.g. pointers and hounds), rodent control, guarding, helping fishermen with nets,
detection dogs, and pulling loads, in addition to their roles as companions.
Service dogs such as guide dogs, utility dogs, assistance dogs, hearing dogs, and psychological therapy
dogs provide assistance to individuals with physical or mental disabilities. Some dogs owned by
epileptics have been shown to alert their handler when the handler shows signs of an impending seizure,
sometimes well in advance of onset, allowing the owner to seek safety, medication, or medical care.
Dogs included in human activities in terms of helping out humans are usually called working
dogs. Dogs of several breeds are considered working dogs. Some working dog breeds include Akita,
Alaskan Malamute, Anatolian Shepherd Dog, Bernese Mountain Dog, Black Russian Terrier, Boxer,
Bullmastiff, Doberman Pinscher, Drogue de Bordeaux, German Pinscher, German Shepherd, Giant
Schnauzer, Great Dane, Great Pyrenees, Great Swiss Mountain Dog, Komodo, Kvass, Mastiff, Neapolitan
Mastiff, Newfoundland, Portuguese Water Dog, Rottweiler, Saint Bernard, Samoyed, Siberian Husky,
Standard Schnauzer, and Tibetan Mastiff (Wikipedia).
It is interesting to understand the process of choosing a canine to train and train it to become a
police dog (K-9).
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According to La Follette (2012), the domestic dog -- Canis lupus familiaris -- bears only a vague
resemblance to its wolf like ancestor. It's hard to imagine that Chihuahuas and pit bulls can call
themselves relatives. But despite the dizzying array of dog breeds, every Fido on Earth possesses the
spirit and basic morphology of an animal similar to the gray wolves still roaming the world today. Let's
dive under the hood to see what makes the dog design so special.
Everything starts with the canine skeleton, which evolution has shaped for running and leaping.
The rear legs are rigid and sturdy, the front legs loose and flexible. Unlike humans, dogs lack a
collarbone. Its absence increases how far the front limbs can extend relative to the torso, enabling a much
longer stride. Look at the gallop of a greyhound, and you'll see evidence of this built-for-running skeleton.
You'll also see that each leg of the dog ends in a small, compact foot with four toes armed with claws.
Dogs walk on these toes and, like all speedy mammals, can accelerate rapidly by remaining on the balls of
their feet. A fifth claw, the dewclaw, is the vestige of a thumb, which may or may not touch the ground,
depending on the breed.
All of the major organs lie within the protective shell of the bones and muscles. Dogs possess the
same bodily systems as humans, though some are tweaked for performance. The cardiovascular system,
for example, supports both sprinting and endurance. Many breeds have running characteristics
reminiscent of their gray wolf cousins, which can reach speeds up to 34 to 43 miles per hour (55 to 70
kilometers per hour) for short bursts, but can also travel up to 124 miles (200 kilometers) a day at a pace
of 5 miles per hour (8 kilometers per hour) [source: Dewey].
Even more impressive are the canine sense organs, especially the nose and ears. A dog's nose
contains 225 million olfactory receptors, making it a very sensitive and nuanced sensory receptor [source:
Frankel]. Humans, by comparison, boast a meager 5 million olfactory receptors [source: Correa]. Rescue
dogs and other long-nosed breeds are able to identify people accurately even after a considerable passage
of time, while hunting dogs can distinguish one variety of bird from another. Dogs also possess an acute
sense of hearing. Their ears have an audible range up to 35,000 hertz, whereas humans max out at only
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20,000 hertz [source: Vanacore]. Dogs can even move their ears independently, which helps them to
focus sounds
These anatomical traits alone make dogs ideal military participants. Throw in their loyalty and
their desire to please, and it's easy to see why they're in high demand on the battlefield today.
According to George (1949), the use of the canine began in the United States (1907), when the
first patrol program with dogs was inaugurated in South Orange, New Jersey and New York City. Until
the year 1952, only 14 police departments had dogs that were trained with their respective handlers for the
use of law and order. The longest duration of a training program for police dogs was 44 years and this
was in a section of Brooklyn, New York. They were praised for their significant reduction in robberies
and crimes that wrapped the city at night. These programs started to dwindle away at the introduction of
police cars that were equipped with radios. In the middle of the 1950's, the K-9 training programs came
back into the scene with much force and by the 1990's, 3000 programs were implemented, for which 2000
are in operation currently. Today, we can count on 7000 police departments that have K-9 units in force
in this country (George, 1949.p12).
Investigative questions:
1. Does training police dogs increase the efficiency of identifying crimes?
2. What functions can police departments accomplish when utilizing police dogs?
3. What qualities are considered in a dog to be trained as a K-9?
4. Why is it so important that both the handler and the police dog have a great relationship?
5. What kinds of dogs can be used in police work?
Justification:
There has been through history so many stories of dogs being man's best friend. He is a faithful
and loyal companion as well as a great guard dog to many. His role in the law enforcement has proven to
be effective in identifying and solving crimes. It is intriguing to learn of how they are trained to develop
and utilize at greater level their innate senses to help law enforcement officers fulfill their duties and
responsibilities.
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These four legged beautiful creatures collaborating with a human being to reduce and eliminate
crime is an amazing adventure to discover. To have a person depend on an animal as their partner in
crime is more than an act of faith. Hard and vigorous efforts, learning and training goes into this unique
combination called K-9 and their handler.
To prove that a relationship between a dog and its handler can make a difference in police work
as well as impacting the crime world is a challenge I am willing to discover.
Variables:
training, police, dog, partner, identify, crime
Word Operational Definition Nominal Definition
training A preparation by exercise or skilled
behavior learning. Education.
Discipline.
exercise in order to prepare for an event or
competition; Activity leading to skilled behavior;
the act or process of exercising, disciplining, etc.;
education (Webster, 1996).
police Law enforcer that regulates and
supervises preventive measures as well
as identifies, correct and enforces
punishment to those that do not uphold
the law.
to control, regulate, or keep in order by use of
police; to make clean and put in order; to
supervise the operation, execution, or
administration of to prevent or detect and
prosecute violations of rules and regulations
(Webster, 1996).
dog Four legged animal that descends from
the wolf family. Domesticated animal
that derives from many breeds of its
kind.
A member of the genus Canis (probably
descended from the common wolf) that has been
domesticated by man since prehistoric times;
occurs in many breeds (Webster, 1996).
partner A helper and companion to fulfill a
duty.
one associated with another especially in an action
(Webster, 1996).
identify To single out a person, place or a thing
to relate to something or someone.
to cause to be or become identical; distinguish,
pinpoint, single out (Webster, 1996).
crime Intention or omission of an illegal act
that is harmful or dangerous to self or
someone else.
the intentional commission of an act usually
deemed socially harmful or dangerous and
specifically defined, prohibited, and punishable
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under criminal law. an act or the commission of
an act that is forbidden or the omission of a duty
that is commanded by a public law and that makes
the offender liable to punishment by that law; a
gross violation of law (Webster, 1996).

Theoretical Framework
Thorndike (1913) posited that a man's intellect, character, and skill is the sum of his tendencies to
respond to situations and elements of situations, and it is the different situation-response connections that
make up this sum of the world. He was interested in the doctrine of association between sensation and
impulse.
Thorndike's experimental interest lies in the establishment of connections between particular
stimuli and voluntary behaviors. He formulated three laws of Readiness, Exercise, and Effect to illustrate
how human acquire connections productive of behavior suitable to the environment in which they live
(Thorndike, 1921).
Thorndike studies voluntary behaviors. His experiment on the animal's escape behavior in the
puzzle box demonstrated an associating process between a situation and a response in trial and error
learning. Gredler (1997) has pointed out that the importance of Thorndike's research is to include the
effects of the subject's action among the causes of behavior change. A connection is made between the
stimulus of the environment, the behavior and the consequences. Three major laws of learning to explain
this process include:
1. Law of Effect: The strength of the connection is determined by the state of satisfyingness
following the response.
2. Law of Exercise: The strength of the connection is influenced by the use and disuse of the
connection. The recurrence of the condition increases the connection's strength. But when a
connection is not made between a situation and a response during a length of time, that
connection's strength is decreased.
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3. Law of Readiness: Whether a conduction unit is in readiness to conduct or not is governed by the
states of satisfying and annoying.
According to Thorndike, learning can be explained as a series of the connections between the
environmental stimuli and behaviors followed by reinforcing consequence, governed by law of effect, law
of exercise and law of readiness.
Operant Conditioning, developed by Skinner in 1938, recognizes the differences between elicited
responses and emitted responses. The former are responses associated with a particular stimulus, and the
latter are responses that act on the environment to produce different kinds of consequences that affect the
organism and alter future behavior. Skinner's research focuses on the manipulation of the consequences of
an organism's behavior and its effect on subsequent behavior. Learning can be understood by a basic S
(Discriminative Stimulus)-R (Operant Response, the behavior)-S (Contingent Stimulus, the reinforcing
stimulus) relationship. The change in behavior is operated by the contingencies of reinforcement. A
reinforcing event is any behavioral consequence that strengthens behavior.
Skinner's research focused on the experimental study of behavior. The underlying assumptions
about the research in Skinner's experiments include:
The lawful relationships between behavior and environment can be only found only if behavioral
properties and experimental conditions are carefully studied.
Data from experimental study of behavior are the only acceptable sources of information about the
causes of behavior.
Skinner (1938) proposed two laws that govern the conditioning of an operant:
1. The Law of Conditioning: If the occurrence of an operant is followed by presentation of a reinforcing
stimulus, the strength is increased.
2. The Law of Extinction: If the occurrence of an operant already strengthened through conditioning is
not followed by the reinforcing stimulus, the strength is decreased.
LITERARY REVISION
CHAPTER II

8


It was a dark summer night in the streets of Longwood, Florida when Officer David Hernandez
with K-9 Freddy were patrolling their designated area. Officer Hernandez heard a call coming through
the patrol radio that another officer was in pursuit of a vehicle that was fleeing a crime scene.
Officer Hernandez immediately responded in his patrol car with K-9 Freddy in the back seat cage.
As he listened to the direction of travel over the radio he identified the fleeing car which was coming at
him at high rate of speed. The police helicopter overhead was informing the officers of the visuals. The
"bad guy" car hit a curve as he swirled to avoid a turn and damaged his tire but as he ignored the deflating
tire he made a left turn in the next street. "Bad guy" got out of the car and started to run on foot.
Helicopter officer was giving directions and leading the other responding officers to the criminal. The
suspect jumped a chain linked fence that lead to a scrap metal yard.
As Hernandez took K-9 Freddy out of his car the helicopter had a visual of the criminal running
east and jumping fences. The officer then put Freddy back into the and started to drive to the east side of
the yard as per instructions. Hernandez's Sargeant confirmed that a gun was found in the front seat of the
criminal's car.
The helicopter pilot guided Hernandez in the direction of a pitch black area where a canopy of
trees made it impossible to see anything. The suspect was hiding between two buildings. Once K-9
Freddy was taken out of the car his behavior changed, he commenced pulling on the leash and his
breathing and temperament indicated he was "in odor" (he could smell the odor of the suspect). The
helicopter "FLIR" (forward looking infrared radar) could identify a body hiding because of the heat being
released from the suspect's body. K-9 Freddy can't see him but because he was in odor he kept pulling on
the leash. Officer Hernandez released Freddy who then grabbed the suspect by his ankle. The hiding
place was so difficult to get to by officers but K-9 Freddy was successful in apprehending him and
continued to bite the foot until he was commanded to release the suspect.
During the process of apprehension K-9 Freddy was praised and encouraged that he was doing a
great job. The police dog's biggest reward is an apprehension because he is trained that it is a fun thing to
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do. Rewarding is reinforced by training and the dog is driven by praise. Fun and praising equals work
(Hernandez).
Training police dogs increases the efficiency of identifying and apprehension of criminals. Their
specialization is a great component of valor and preciseness to fight illegal activities.
Police dogs are often used by law enforcers as an alternative to weapons and firearms. They
provide an effective way of showing force. However, the use of dogs in catching criminals by biting is an
extreme case of utilizing force and can cause serious injuries. A study by the Crime and Conduct
Commission of Australia reported that for the period of 1990 and 1998, complaints related to dog bite
increased substantially each year. Examination of the details revealed that almost 29% of the bite victims
were juvenile, 29% were falsely accused, 29% had multiple bites and 36% hardly had medical assistance.
These studies prove that despite the training that dog receives, they still pose a great threat to human
beings. The violence of dogs are unpredictable and regardless whether a bite victim is an innocent person
or a civilian, nobody deserves to be treated through such violent method.
Last but not the least, it is important to note that the use of dogs in law enforcement often leads to
cases of animal cruelty. Unlike humans who have a control on their threshold of pain, dogs that undergo
rigorous training do not have a personal say up to which extent they can handle the activities being given
to them. Though some dogs may show fatigue, the final say as to when they should stop lies in their
handler. Certain police officer also dog collars which is capable of electrically shocking dogs to ensure
they are well-behaved. Just as people do not deserve to be arrested violently, it also morally wrong to treat
dogs with such brutality.
The use of dogs in law enforcement is a practice that should be reviewed. Despite the advantages
their use offers, the disadvantages particularly in terms of brutality involved in both the treatment of
people and the dogs themselves far outweigh the advantages. Law enforcers should consider employing
methods which take into account both the rights of criminals and dogs. The safety and welfare of both, as
wells as the enforcers themselves, should never be compromised (Persuasive Essay, 2012).
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It is also important to consider the amount of money that needs to be invested in the training and
continuous training of dogs. Establishing an effective canine unit needs continuous training on both the
part of the dog and the handler. The standards to be met are high and so is the cost of maintenance. And
despite the general reliability of trained dogs, false positives and negatives can still occur. False positives
can cause baseless allegation while a false negative can result to entry of illegal products, etc. Dogs which
are used for drug or chemical detection are also highly susceptible to the effect of the chemicals. Due to
the cost of maintenance, few police units ever come up with the complete and up-to-date training for dogs
and handles, and this often the cause of reported cases of violence and mishandling.
Snovak (2004) states that aversive training techniques preferred by many handlers 20 years ago
have increasingly been replaced by techniques involving positive stimuli such as treats, toys and praise.
This remains a matter of debate among trainers of police and military dogs as well as generally in the
canine training industry. Training is serious business and their standards are provided by a number of
national police dog organizations. Courts have often looked to such standards in determining whether a
dog is adequately trained.
Some research teams in Belgium and France found that military dogs with aversive stimuli
(yanking the leash and hanging dogs by their collars) performed less well than dogs that were trained with
more positive stimuli (including stroking and petting).
Sacks, Kresnow and Houston (1996) say that a dog is as dangerous as a violent police officer who
is out of control. No matter how trained the dogs are they are still dangerous to human beings. They may
become too violent and in the process bite other people. It must however be stressed that regardless of
whether the injured party is an Innocent civilian or fleeing felon no person deserves to be bitten by a
canine. In these issues on the use of excessive and unnecessary force, the dogs are not to be blamed.
Responsibility for the injury falls upon the individual officers who may have misused the canines which
are under their control or the police department which fail to properly train its officers or implement a
well-defined policy limiting the use of canines in accordance with the departments guidelines.
Statistically speaking, there have been a number of individuals who have been bitten by dogs. As
a result, there are those who say that this dog bite epidemic should be taken seriously. In nationwide
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survey of dog bites, it said that there are approximately 4.7 million dog bites in the United States every
year.
The police dogs and their handlers are teams and their ability to work together depends on each
other's understanding. Eye contact between human and dog and the ease that the dog has with pointing
gestures are relevant to police functions. These dogs are effective in a variety of functions, such as, their
specialization of hunting cadavers, detection of human remains, missing persons, avalanches, wilderness,
disasters and illegal substances Snovak (2004).
According to an article in the Dog Breed Info. Center functions of police dogs are divided into
four (4) categories (Maguire, p. 4):
1. Tracking, trailing and identification.
2. Suspect apprehension and crowd control.
3. Detection.
4. Rescue and protection.
Deciding to train a puppy to perform a function for much of its adult life requires making an
effort to find a dog that will have the right disposition for the work involved.
Most type of police work require that dogs not be overly nervous and afraid, be lively and
interested in their environment, willing to work long hours and reasonably intelligent and quick to learn
(Ensminger, 2012).
According to Hammond (2006) the selection of the dog is very important because it must be very
self-confident, energetic, and have a high hunt, prey and retrieve drive. He must be capable of
independent work, be sociable, in good health, be structurally sound and capable of ignoring the typical
noises. Dogs have no conscience, no feeling of guilt, and cannot determine right from wrong. Dogs are
used to assist law-enforcement because their sense of smell is about fifty times more sensitive than
humans, they can see greater distances than humans, their sense of hearing is ten times better than
humans, and they can intimidate the criminals.
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The magazine "La Follette (2012) writes that a great deal of research describes the anatomy of the
dog's nose and brain. The study of scent physiology has involved research at the highest level including
Nobel Prize winners. Detecting small molecules in the environment is a capacity of all living things,
including plants and animals. A dog's sense of smell could work even when it is breathing out and the
can record different smells for months.
Hammond (2006) also states the while selecting the right dog is crucial, the potential handler
needs to carefully evaluate whether he or she has the physical and mental make-up for the job required.
Although female dogs have demonstrated to be closer to their handlers and they don't mark every tree and
bush before they go to work, some handlers would rather work with a male dog because they are bigger.
But it is a personal preference and have nothing to do with the training ability (Wood 2012).
The puppy period is a great time for bonding with the handler. The puppy should be fed, played
with, and cared for only the handler during the initial weeks after being removed from its littermates.
Proper socializing increases the odds for a good dog. Just like all dogs are not suitable for police work,
the same goes for the handler. In order to be a dog handler you must be prepared to make large time
commitments to classes, training and meetings (Hammond 2006).
A dog needs to have a stable temperament to work with people. A well tempered dog is playful,
confident, curious, non-aggressive, responds and likes socializing. Therefore, to develop a stable
temperament the dogs need to adjust to noise, screams, active children, anxious people and not be
alarmed or overly excited through all kinds of unusual circumstances (Snovak 2004).
Once the right dog has been picked, laying the foundation for a good police dog is determined by
how well the animal has been socialized and bonded to the handler. During that time of socialization and
bonding, the handler should establish certain control factors (NAPWDA).
The K-9's natural essence of breed describes its characteristics and quality in each particular dog.
The German Sheppard is widely used in the United States because of its intimidating appearance (Snovak
2004).
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George (1949) informed that the German trainers experimented with various breeds and found
that the German Sheppard and Doberman Pincher are the best dogs to work with the police departments.
They are strong, intelligent and easy to train. Police dogs live with their handlers as part of their family.
There they exercise, play and create a confident bond with each other.
The real key to K-9 selection and a successful K-9 program is experience. Departments must seek
out skilled, experienced trainers if they do not have them available in their own department. Training one
or a few dogs is not enough (Palman).
All police dogs must first become experts at basic obedience training. They must obey the
commands of their handler without hesitation. This is what keeps the inherent aggression of the dog in
check, and allows the officer to control how much force the dog is using against a suspect.
Dogs from Europe are often given commands in their native language. Many people think this is
so no one besides the handler can accidentally give them an "attack" command in English. This is a myth.
The real reason is much simpler -- the dogs were trained with those command words, and it's much easier
for the officer to learn a few Dutch or German words than to retrain the dog with new commands.
A police dog must also make it through endurance and agility training. The dog must be able to
jump over walls and climb stairs. Each dog is acclimated to city life. Finally, each dog receives specialty
training. (La Follette).









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