What Are the Best Police Dog Breeds? Complete Guide

If there's one thing dogs excel at compared to humans, it's their sense of smell. So much so that many dogs have served as allies for rescue and security forces thanks to their impressive nose.

When we talk about police dogs, the German Shepherd almost always comes to mind, but the truth is there are many other breeds capable of this work, so important to society. Want to get to know them? Let's look at the best police dog breeds.

Police Dogs, Allies of Society

Besides being humans' most loyal friends, dogs have many other admirable talents, such as their ability to become assistance dogs for people with disabilities, therapy dogs, herding dogs, disease-detection dogs, and more.

This time, we'll focus on getting to know the job a dog does helping maintain order and enforce laws in the city — the police dog.

As with everything else, this job requires long periods of dedication and training. Also, depending on the specific field the dog will work in, training is approached differently.

Although the branches vary within the fields of public safety, citizen protection, and police investigation, the task subdivisions are extensive. So dogs, alongside their handlers, become experts in a specific area of police work.

After their working years end due to age and/or declining abilities, the dogs retire. In Spain, adoption is encouraged through NGOs, and in other countries, like the United States, dogs receive a lifetime pension to cover the needs of the dog and its adoptive family.

• You can adopt a retired police dog through Heroesde4patas.org

Characteristics of Police Dogs

Beyond their training, these dogs need certain traits that make them capable of meeting police objectives, like a strong character and a great motivation for play. This should be a given for any police dog.

The love of play ties in with their hunting instinct, which matters a lot in these cases, since they'll often need to track, chase, and subdue. Physically, too, these dogs need to be strong and highly active.

That said, if there's one thing humans simply can't compete with, it's dogs' signature traits: smell and instinct. That's why dogs have become an essential, irreplaceable ally in this line of work.

Types of Police Dogs

There's a specific classification for organizing police dog breeds based on the job they perform within the force. There are four main areas of police dog work:

• Intervention: dogs in this category focus on citizen protection, tracking down criminals and explosives, hostage rescue, riot control, and so on.
• Rescue: extremely useful in situations like natural disasters, building collapses, avalanches, tsunamis, earthquakes, and so on.
• Detection: thanks to their nose, these dogs specialize in detecting explosives, chemicals or narcotics, mines, and customs inspections, among others.
• Forensic police work: in this last category, dogs focus on searching for bodies or potential evidence, identification lineups, and so on.

Breeds Best Suited to Police Work

Below, we've put together a list of the best police dog breeds based on the character and skill of each one. This ranking is based on the opinions of veterinary experts, animal behaviorists, and dog trainers familiar with each breed's traits.

German Shepherd

The German Shepherd is the clear example that comes to mind right away when we think of police dogs. And rightly so — both its intelligence and great learning ability, as well as its courage, make it one of the most capable animals for police work like rescue operations.

Beyond these traits, German Shepherds are persistent with their tasks, so they don't stop until they've completed their mission. They're also versatile dogs, able to learn any job, though they're usually assigned to search-and-rescue purposes.

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Rottweiler

Another breed that meets the key requirements for police work is the Rottweiler. Besides being loyal, alert, obedient, and action-loving, these dogs are known as some of the fiercest and most aggressive.

When trained for this purpose, these dogs, with their sturdy bodies and powerful bite, can become formidable for lawbreakers. They often work on investigative tasks, like solving crimes and serious offenses.

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Labrador Retriever

The Labrador Retriever has a highly developed sense of smell, which makes it the perfect candidate to become a detection dog, where scent ability matters more than athleticism.

They're also very intelligent, balanced dogs that love working as a team, which is also very useful in tasks like detecting explosives and drugs at airports and in vehicles.

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Bloodhound

The Bloodhound, or Saint Hubert Hound, also stands out, among many other traits, for its great sense of smell. In fact, thanks to this ability, this breed is categorized as the tracker breed par excellence.

Its tracking ability is so effective that it can pick up scent trails up to two weeks old. Because of this, this dog has become a great ally for forensic police work.

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Belgian Shepherd

One of the best dogs today for rescue and intervention police work is the Belgian Shepherd. This dog stands out both for its mental capacity, given its great intelligence, and for its physique, which is especially powerful, imposing, and athletic.

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Dutch Shepherd

The Dutch Shepherd also makes this list, since it's very common to see this breed in police units across a wide range of departments. It stands out for its dynamism, muscle tone, flexibility, and powerful bite.

More Police Dog Breeds

• Beagle
• Boxer
• German Shorthaired Pointer
• Bullmastiff
• Cocker Spaniel
• Doberman Pinscher
• Foxhound
• Golden Retriever
• Spanish Water Dog
• Schnauzer
• English Springer Spaniel
• Weimaraner