Bi-Lingual Police Dogs
Due to a lack of suitable dogs the Derbyshire Police have imported German Shepherd Dogs from Germany at the cost of £2,000 per dog. Though these dogs are excellently trained Police dogs they only respond to commands spoken in German. Police dog handlers have to take a crash course to master German commands such as:
Sitz (sit)
Platz (down)
Aus (let go)
Holen (fetch)
Bissen (bite)
However, to make things easier a Derbyshire spokeswoman said:
“We are repeating the German commands in English so the dogs are becoming bilingual.
The German dogs are more efficient and obedient than those bred in the United Kingdom.
Not every dog makes the grade needed to be a working Police dog. A national shortage of suitable candidates has left the force no option but to recruit from Germany . The dogs have to wait 6 months before getting a passport which enables them to enter the country without being quarantined.
A dog’s natural abilities and instinctive drives form the basis to become a Police dog recruit. All new recruits are carefully assessed by means of a series of tests designed to identify whether or not the dog possesses the instincts and temperament required. The role of the Police dog is to provide crime prevention, tracking and searching for criminals, recovering articles from a scene of crime, locating missing persons, searching for drugs, explosives or firearms to name but a few.
The German dogs will soon be patrolling with their handlers working to reduce crime.