Table of Contents

Dogs have been used in law enforcement and police work give-up the ghost as far back as the 5th Century .

mod K9 officers are aim for different chore , and sure police dog breeds are picked for particular police enforcement jobs .

15 Best Police Dog Breeds in the US

Some breeds have been revere for their gruelling workplace at protect their animal trainer and civilian .

likewise , several police force dog breed often trained exclusively for constabulary work stand out as the best police detective , trackers , and innocent defender .

K9 officers sniff out bomb , narcotics , traverse and fetch down criminals , among many other law enforcement taskssuch as search and rescue .

History of K-9 Officers (Police Dog Units)

Bomb-sniffing police dog on duty in full gear and ready for the job.

But what dog breeds make the good canines for police body of work ? Not amazingly , some dogs are much better for this job than others .

We ’ve scour police bounder ' account to pick out the fifteen skilful dog breed for law work and ranked them on this police force dog stock list .

History of K-9 Officers (Police Dog Units)

While hot dog were used in law of nature enforcement even in the Middle Ages , the melodic theme of modern K9 officers and police force blackguard was born in the late 1800s in London , where bloodhound were used to chase after down the notorious series killerJack the Ripper .

From that point , police officers started with Bloodhounds based on their story as one of thebest hunting dogswith the strongest sense of smell and tracking abilities .

They would only thrive into unlike breeds for dissimilar tasks come the early 1990s .

Most Popular Police Dog Breeds

In the 1890s , the British and the Germans were the first nations to use wiener for police work actively .

They ’ve search , bred , and prepare peculiar law dog breeds specifically for tasks related to tracking down criminals .

near a decennium later , when the legal philosophy enforcement in other countries realized the vast help dog bring home the bacon , their police unitshave startedespecially grooming dog-iron to help agitate law-breaking .

Bomb sniffing police dog on duty

Bomb-sniffing police dog on duty in full gear and ready for the job.

police force detent education take off in 1899 and had been growing and improving ever since .

The range of police dog breeds has been expand , and practice of law enforcement include more constabulary work breeding breed .

Today , in many land , a K-9 police dog is considered an prescribed police force officer with many duties and obligation on its hands .

Most Popular Police Dog Breeds

It means these dogs must be treated just as ahuman police ship’s officer wouldbe protect under the law the same way .

ill-treat a K-9 unit wienerwurst is the same as ill-use a law enforcement officer ( with the perpetrator present fines and long - term clink time ) .

Policedog stock ' workings jobshave been quickly dilate as officer agnise even more skills and talent that cuspid have .

What are the Best Police Dog Breeds for Police Work?

For example , today in New York City , police firedog are most often used for tracking , detection , and criminal apprehension , according to NY State Office , but they have a much larger scope of duty on top of that .

It ’s no enigma that German Shepherds have been the most democratic constabulary pawl for many ten ( look at most police dog breeds photos ) , and they merit this title of respect for a good cause .

But many other potentialpolice domestic dog breedsare now also trained to be a part of K-9 unit in unlike countries , but the breed range is especially blow up in the due west .

There ’s no single path for a dog to become a police K9 unit .

Belgian Malinois

Some frank are raised from puppies to become police dogs , and others are taken from and re - trained from table service bounder .

Sometimes police officer in the U.S. even add dogs from other countries , specially Germany and Netherlands , and continue discipline thesebilingual dogsfor police body of work ( in both the weenie ’s aboriginal linguistic communication and English ) here in the United States .

There ’s no prescribed incoming roadblock , and different approaches are taken to bring in new police detent breeds and discipline them for different tasks .

Boxers

But this thing is taken seriously by law enforcement – after the full police work training , the hot dog ( and its handler ) will then even have to take the curse the same way as a human police policeman would .

The handler will affirm on the dog ’s behalf and have the hot dog barque in avowal of the oath .

Retirementfor police click varies around the world . Most dogs retire if they get seriously injured and will not heal fully . They also commonly retire when they make old long time or if they get too nauseated to work .

Labrador Retriever

It is also vernacular for pregnant or nursing dogs to retire or take a leave of absence seizure .

On average , most police wienerwurst will act upon for six to nine age . In some areas , retired constabulary dogs even have pension plan .

Due to discrimination of sure breeds like Pit Bulls , more constabulary officersbring them in and attract care for these dogs to be recognized as effective police dog breeds .

Doberman Pinchser

I have compiled a inclination of law hound breeds that have been in law enforcement service for a long time , and you ’ll also find out a few new faces who are changing the way we viewcertain “ scary ” dog breed .

This inclination is only the backsheesh of the iceberg , as more click are starting to service and become recognized as constabulary pawl stock .

work dogs have been protecting and serve us for many class .

Bloodhound

They have many different jobs , but certainly , assisting human police force ship’s officer is one of the toughest .

Let ’s look at the fifteen best weenie breeds for law work and what they do daily .

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Bouvier des Flandres

1. German Shepherd

It comes as no surprise that theGerman Shepherd Dogis the first on   this leaning of most well - eff police hotdog breeds .

Most citizenry only experience them as “ police dogs ” because of all the television set shows that popularized this breed , leave that they in reality have an real strain name .

They are officially the identification number one stock used as K-9 officers globally , and it ’s easy to see why .

Giant Schnauzer

voguish , fast , fearless , and enthusiastic , GSD takes the lead by jump and limit .

Because they ’re one of the most talented and bright dog breeds , highly trainable , and follow through on bid like a clock , German Shepherds shine when it come to bring in down suspects ( armed or not ) .

GSDs are amazing all - rounders who are also used to sniff out narcotics , cadavers , and search and rescue missions alongside many other constabulary enforcement building block .

American Pit Bull Terrier

This is the perfect law bounder breed because dog owners raised it like one for decades ; they ’re not only trainable , but they ’re also strong , debauched , and very loyal – everything that defecate a utter police click K-9 unit .

2. Belgian Malinois

Closely related to the German Shepherd Dogs , the Belgian Malinois has also been used extensively as K-9 officer for old age and are often confused for GSDs .

With their strong protective instincts and loyal personality , Malinois dogs are a force out to be reckoned with and are the 2d most pop constabulary dog multiply out there .

These domestic dog are smaller than German Shepherds but with a speedy response time than the German Shepherd .

Briard

The Malinois are engender , train , and used for almost the same purposes as GSD , most often to apprehend and bring down criminals but other law enforcement job ( like narcotics or bomb - sniffing ) .

Today , they ’re even more often seen than GSDs to sniffle out narcotics and bombs in airports .

Because they are n’t normally aggressive by nonpayment ( German Shepherds are naturally more aggressive ) , this police hot dog breed makes amazing a K-9 police force military officer .

Airedale Terrier

It is a breeze to deal because of their listening and attention skills .

3. Boxers

packer are a very elastic wiener stock that has serve in WW1 and WW2 as guard and patrol dogs alongside military officeholder , and that ’s what they ’re often commemorate for when it do to their chronicle of being working dogs .

On top of that , Boxers were also used as messenger dog to relay messages between flock in the state of war ’s crossfire .

With that being said , one of the most interesting thing that Boxers used to do during wars was transport communication wire with a spool that was attached to their catch , and they did it stunningly well .

Beagle

It unwound as they ran between certain point during the tantalize battle .

Loyal , stable , and sociable , the Boxer is still very democratic and commonly used as K-9 officers in their rest home country of Germany , being one of the more pop police dog breeds in Europe in world-wide , but not as much in most other res publica and certainly not in the U.S.

They ’re come down popularity as K-9 unit of measurement are likely due to their genetic angle of dip towards sure illnesses and diseases .

Cane Corso

4. Labrador Retriever

Many decades ago , the Labrador Retriever was initially bred as a search gun dog to sniff out the game and retrieve it ( where the name comes from ) .

Nowadays , they are also used as bomb calorimeter and narcotic detection dogs and are often view as one of the more popular police dog strain in the U.S. They also police airports and harbors with their handlers , making sure nothing fishy enters their countries .

Labs are a trendy dog breed collectively , sleep with worldwide , and is peculiarly beloved in the United States by pet owners .

German Shorthaired Pointer

This is because they ’re sleep with to be very sociable , friendly , fast , and intelligent .

Labrador have a love of hear and enjoy interacting with mass .

Being one of the smartest and easiest frankfurter breeds to train , theLabrador Retrievermakes an undischarged K-9 officer .

Dutch Shepherd

The work Lab – those that you often see not only as police officers but also as service dog – looks reasonably dissimilar than the household Labrador you ’ll see in your neighbour ’s home ; ordinarily , they ’re somewhat more muscular and leaner from being working dogs .

Some people might recall that they ’re underfed , but quite the opposite is true .

A process Labrador is a lean , tight - move machine whose diet is always optimized to maintain its best health .

The Most Popular Police Dog Breeds

5. Doberman Pinscher

Prevalent police force Canis familiaris engender that everyone has seen on TV appearance and movies are the Doberman Pinscher .

Just like GSDs , this restrain - looking breed has been used in police work for many tenner . While popular , they ’re not as commonly used as other police blackguard breed mentioned above .

They are n’t train to be fast-growing but rather enjoy go out into the field to forge .

thinking , courageous , and beautiful , the Doberman Pinscher is rarely trained for sniffing or other law enforcement jobs that do not involve strenuosity .

Primarily , Dobermans are used to apprehend fly malefactor by grabbing the arm and rend them to the ground .

Their highly acrobatic , physically fit , and tight - actuate body are stark for this eccentric of work .

It also helps that Dobermans are naturally very lean and swift – there are very few breeds in K-9 units that could ever outrun these police dogs , especially when they ’re on the trail of a suspect .

While rarefied , Dobermans are once in a while used as sniffers to observe narcotics as well , but that ’s one of the jobs they do not do as well as GSDs or Bloodhounds do .

6. Bloodhound

Regularly ranked among one of the most pop police dog-iron breeds and picked as one of the top 10 sound K-9 officers by law of nature enforcement themselves , the Bloodhound is an amazing tracker and one of the original police work dogs .

Large , potent , and masculine , this dog breed can track missing someone weeks after someone has disappeared .

sleuthhound first started their “ careers ” alongside humans ashunting gun dogsand were later hire as constabulary dogs due to their unbelievable sense of smell and tracking abilities .

Although they are n’t that common today , they ’re one of the onetime school police frank who made law police officer ' work a lot easy when they needed to find felon .

Bloodhound blackguard breed was specially bully when locate miss children because they do n’t look intimidating , strong-growing , andreally like kids .

7. Bouvier des Flandres

While they may not bet like it from certain Angle ( and , belike , you have n’t see of them as being among police dog breeds ) , these magnanimous pawl have been used as security and service dog for many decades .

Bouvier des Flandres are soft , courageous , and protective to the breaker point of being belligerent .

There is seldom much said about this cad breed as a K-9 officeholder , and you do n’t often see them alongside law military officer , and there ’s probably no TV shows made about this stock .

However , coach are very respectful of this breed , and they do get to work in law enforcement in sealed countries .

Although they ’re easy - give out , when wrong ( or commanded ) , Bouvier des Flandres will become fierce and release a loud guttural growl that will make any clear - thinking human run in the other direction or obey police force officer ’s bidding in an minute .

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8. Giant Schnauzer

This fairly large yetquiet cad breedwho is very suspicious of unknown and Giant Schnauzers has been used as K-9 officer for many years .

However , they ’re also rarely seen as police force weenie engender in the U.S. , and that ’s mostly because they did embark the profession much later than other police dog breeds mentioned above .

Giant Schnauzers tend to be to a fault aggressive , which , when beg into and siphon into the right focal point , make them extraordinary tracker of defendant , missing persons , bomb , and narcotics .

The Giant Schnauzer is also used in search saving because of their relentlessness , dedication to the labor , and involuntariness to give up .

9. American Pit Bull Terrier

The American Pit Bull Terrier   ( not to be confound withAmerican Staffordshire TerrierorStaffordshire Bull Terrier ) is the newest kid on the block among police force blackguard breeds , as various law enforcement section have only of late started to use this dog breed for police workplace ( in fact , mostly in the last few of years ) .

The absolute majority of Pit Bulls used as K-9 building block are rescues , which save on costly fee from stock breeder as some K-9 officer dogs can be up to $ 20,000 .

Due to their dogfighting history , they were seldom hire for K-9 units before ; however , this has been changing as law enforcement realized their great potency .

More constabulary departments are taking Pit Bulls in today .

Confident , fearless , acrobatic , flying , and sturdy , the Pit Bull is primarily used for detection and patrolling today .

There are claim that the military is looking into also using this bounder breed in the future tense .

New York Police Department are also purge animal shelters to acquire Pit Bulls , like this one apply recently .

10. Briard

If you ’ve seen this dog breed before , you wo n’t think it would make a good K-9 police frump officer .

However , Briard weenie actually make excellent safety and watchdogs aimed for particular jurisprudence enforcement task because of their alert personalities .

They are often used as police dog spawn in certain countries .

This dog breed is also considered to be easily trainable , hardy , and brave .

Today , the Briard is most often used in police search and saving missionary post , tracking , andPTSD service pawl .

This enceinte Gallic dog has exchange the fashion many the great unwashed see working K-9 officers , and that ’s because Briard ’s employment is different from that of a German Shepherd .

11. Airedale Terrier

This dog breed is first known as “ The King of the Terriers . ” gymnastic and close , the Airedale Terrier was used in World War 1 and World War 2 to protect military officers .

Sadly , not very much is write about the K-9 Airedale Terrier officeholder , but they are used primarily as patrol dog and deserve care for their skills and commitment .

The largest of all the terrier were quite pop with hunter and originally cover to catch small beast like rats and other rodents .

They can use their first-class sensory faculty of smell to find drug , bombs , and other severe paraphernalia as patrol dogs .

They ’re not the most popular among police dog breeds , but you could from time to time see them as K-9 unit in the United States and Europe .

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12. Beagle

Beaglesare another hot dog multiply that first begin working with human as gun dogs .

After that , this new K-9 constabulary officeholder is mostly used in airports and harbors to sniff out narcotic and illegal substances that assay to enter their country because their good sense of olfactory perception isamong the bestamong all stock .

There are many advantage to using Beagles as police frump breeds over some others cite above .

For example , because of their sizing , Beagles are well-off to arise into area where a person otherwise ca n’t get at , and that ’s what law enforcement often does with them . They can also be truehearted , swift , and great for trailing while remain less detected and more stealthy .

Beagles are also used ascadaver dogsto sniff out bodies or substances .

13. Cane Corso

descendent of Roman war dog , it ’s only consistent that the Cane Corso should be used in the police labor force-out .

Alert , courageous , potent , and highly daunting , this dog breed is a hardworking K-9 police force domestic dog who is excellent at protection and patrol piece of work .

Like Dobermans , they are know for their physical abilities – although not as tight , they have one ofthe strongest bitesof all canines .

Overall , they ’re not very popularpolice dogbreeds .

According to official law enforcement phonograph record , there is currently only one Cane Corso in religious service in the USA . But it seems that in the hereafter , with more Pit Bulls and likewise discriminated andbanned cad breedscoming into police work , the number of Cane Corso dogs as K-9 unit officers will rise due to their adaptability and working position .

14. German Shorthaired Pointer

Another click breed transitioning from being a huntinggun dogto police work is German Shorthaired Pointer .

Enthusiastic , bold , and very reasoning , this easy - to - gearing breed has long since been used as track dog by hunters due to their cracking sense of smell and overall intelligence .

They are very different from many other police force dog strain .

Non - pugnacity , sturdiness , and a strong willingness to please their owners are their master attributes , and that ’s what makes theGerman Shorthaired Pointereasy to work with for law enforcement officers .

Boy , do they get the problem done accord to many interview from their police officer handler .

15. Dutch Shepherd

Finally , another less popular law dog breed in the W is the Dutch Shepherd . Reliable , firm , alert , intuitive , intelligent , and non - aggressive are just a few of this dog breed ’s traits .

Because of their protective nature , the Dutch Shepherd make excellent patrol and detection dogs in many area ' K-9 unit , but they ’re not very popular in the USA .

Most often , Dutch Shepherds are used to sniffing out dud and narcotic .

Also , because they are less aggressive than the German Shepherd or even most other police dog breed mentioned , they are a little morsel promiscuous to manage . They can work considerably in sure law enforcement labor .

Honorable Mentions

These are far from the only police hot dog that you will come across .

Although they are not quite as popular as those that made our list , here are other popular police weenie breeds that you may see work out for a living .

Still , have some lingering questions about the most popular law dog breeds ?

We ’ve gathered the most rough-cut head and taken the time to answer them to clear up any doubts you may have .

What dog breed is most often used by police officers?

Some of the most vulgar police dogs include German Shepherds , Dutch Shepherds , retrievers , Belgian Malinois , and bloodhound .

Which is the best police dog?

Some of the well police blackguard include the German Shepherd , Belgian Tervuren , Rottweiler , Doberman Pinscher , Giant Schnauzer , Labrador Retriever , and Dutch Shepherd .

What is the No. 1 dog breed in 2019?

The most popular dog breed for the preceding few eld has been the Labrador Retriever .

Why are Belgian Malinois used as police dogs?

Belgian Malinois are democratic law blackguard for several reasons . These include their dedication , hard aegis instincts , and the power to be trained to protect and serve their humans .

Which dog can kill a lion?

The Rhodesian Ridgeback is one of the dog breeds that can vote out a Leo .

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