Informative Essay On Dogs

Canines have been a part of law enforcement for over 100 years. Law enforcement officers train, care, and utilize service dogs to assist in criminal investigations. “They are the four-legged officers of the K-9 unit, and whether they are searching for missing children or sniffing out suspicious packages, they are part of a longstanding tradition that extends back thousands of years” (1). The first use of dogs started by the Greeks, Persians, Babylonians, and Assyrians. They began to use their dogs for searching, rescuing and guarding. As time passed people noticed how beneficial they were and started using them for protection. In 1907, the United States first K-9 officers began in New York City. The use of dogs made an impact that the British,
German and American military forces also started the use of canines dogs. In March 1965, military dogs were approved to work in the Vietnam war. There were more than 500 dog teams deployed to ten bases by September 1966. “During the Vietnam War, American troops used dogs to clear caves and tunnels of the Vietcong, as well as to find booby traps and landmines” (2). In 1970, the use of dogs took over law enforcement in America which can include a cadaver dog, bomb-detection dog, search-and-rescue dog, or enforcement dog.
As of today police forces still use their dogs to track criminals, smell illegal materials, search buildings, find missing people, and much more. They are very common in law enforcement because they do jobs that human police officers can't do. These dogs have very important roles they need to follow in order to work with any officer. They need to train for several months to learn basic and advance skills to be prepared to work with their partner. The training may include obedience, aggression control, tracking, trailing, narcotics detection, and being able to have the ability to move quickly and easily. Not only does the dog train, but the handlers also need to train with them to be able to learn to work together. Training canine dogs wasn't always easy, there were challenges with this process. Some challenges consist of dog aggression, leash reactivity, resource guarding, barking and biting. “The problem with those dogs is you never know when they were going to turn on you, even on their own handlers, explains Johnson. “Basically they were just chainsaws” (4). Therefore this job requires dedication, physical fitness, control, confidence, and responsibility. Handlers need to take good care of their partner, live with them and make sure they are in good health. They are required to take them to the doctor for checkups, dentist, and maintain a good healthy style.
Being able to work in the K-9 unit can have some pros and cons to this career.
Some pros to this career would be being able to have backup and protection when you fight against crime. Having protection may make you feel less worried and more confident when going out to dangerous duties. I believe canines are excellent and loyal partners that will stick by your side. I also believe that without canines it would be difficult to search for illegal items, bombs, missing people, criminals and much more. They are extremely helpful because they are very intelligent and their sense of smell is very strong. They have 125 million to 300 million scent glands depending on what breed it is. The main breed that is commonly used for this type of work has been a german shepard but police have used a labrador retriever, belgian malinois, dutch shepherd and other types of breeds. Although there was different breeds in the police force they all had a great sense of smell. This means their sense of smell is 1,000 to 10,000,000 times stronger than any human being. There sense of smell is very powerful that they can detect and search for anything they are asked to look for. This is a great benefit in law enforcement because they are doing jobs that human beings wouldn’t be able to do. If humans didn't have canine dogs to help them out, I believe it would have been a longer process because anything that has to do with crime and law enforcement can take up so much time to find out every detail of
what occurred during those crimes. It would also take a longer time to look for missing people because human can't smell them or detect them quickly enough as dogs can. Canine dogs could be heroes to the community just like any officer in criminal justice. They sacrifice their lives an officer does and have risks during their duties. “He was the first hero of his kind to return from the Vietnam War. The welcoming committee watched him walk down the ramp of the plane that had just landed at Kelly Air Force Base. He was wounded, his right eye was missing and a scar ran from below his right eye socket to his mouth. But his wounds weren't what made him different from other returning Vietnam veterans...it was because he was a dog” (3).
The cons about this career could be the danger to the community or handler.
As we all know becoming a police officer or being part of any criminal justice branch can be at risk for danger, and having a canine dog could be very dangerous at times. Although they are great partners and are very trained, they can sometimes forget their instructions and become very aggressive when going after crime. I think that handlers have to be very careful because their dogs could sometimes make the mistake of going after the wrong person. They need to be well aware they don't bite or go after a innocent bystander. “Police canine dog bite attack expert, Richard Polsky, PhD, reviewed 30 cases of dog bite attack by a police canines on an innocent bystander” (5). All police dogs can easily make behavioral mistakes, such as attacking at the wrong time, the wrong person, a suspect when not commanded to do so, and failing to stop an attack when told to stop. This is a huge responsibility for the K-9 unit because these type of mistakes could go wrong for both the handler and the victim. In my opinion I believe there are more pros than cons but bad things can happen at unexpected times no matter how trained the dog is or how prepared K-9 handlers are. It's a very serious career because dogs behavior can change at unexpected times and the handler has to be prepared for those days to make sure everyone is safe especially the one who is handling their
dog.
Overall the K-9 Unit is a very special force that helps protect the community and provide safety as well as any criminal justice department. They are here to fight crime and stop criminals from becoming a danger to society. Their work is unique because they have a special partner that helps them in everything. They have very intelligent dogs that are prepared to overcome anything that is set before them. Being able to have a canine dog as your best friend to protect you and stay by your side makes their working environment a more safer environment. It is of a great advantage to be able to work with a highly trained canine. Dogs who were being used to protect and fight crimes have shown that they are great, loyal, and self-sacrificing companions to officers. Dogs are often willing to sacrifice their lives to save and protect their owner from any kind of danger. This is the reason why canine dogs are being used in any type of law enforcement around the world. It has become very common to have canines as companions because they benefit and impact the world with their skills and intelligence. They carry a very important role in the K-9 Unit and are very much appreciated for the work that they do. They are often rewarded for their hard work and accomplishments. They are recognized and respected by officers and the community because they are part of the law enforcement family.