Article copied and pasted below describes receent vicious attacks by 3 K-9 German Shepherd dogs in the Braintree, MA police department. All dogs have been removed from deployment except the drug dog, Lucky. I don’t know anything about this story except what has been described in the news. The fact that all 3 incidents occurred in one town leads one to question the training and breeding of those dogs.
BRAINTREE, MASSACHUSETTS:
One dog attacked and seriously injured a police officer, one attacked a handler’s son and the third attacked his handler. The dog that attacked his handler was euthanized.
Officially, the dogs were given their walking papers by Frazier for attacking without command.
“There is a certain risk when deploying canines, not only to our officers but to our citizens as well,” Frazier said in a statement. “The inherent danger associated with their deployment far outweighs the benefit and as such I have I have made a decision to end their deployment.”
All three of the dogs were assigned to the department’s patrol division. That leaves the patrol division without any dogs.
One Braintree canine team, made up of Patrol Officer Richard Seibert and his dog Lucky, will remain on duty. Lucky is trained exclusively in drug detection.
Frazier said he has informed Mayor Joseph Sullivan of his decision.
Frazier said Patrol Officer Kristine Lydon “was the victim of a vicious attack” by one of the department’s dogs on April 28.
Lydon was assisting with Sgt. Michael Want and Patrol Officer William Cushing Jr. on a call reporting two missing youths. Want located the youths, and the officers were about to leave the area, the chief said.
Lydon was standing near her cruiser when police canine Kitt escaped from the rear of another cruiser. The dog ran past Cushing, his handler, and attacked Lydon.
“Officer Lydon suffered a serious leg injury and was transported to Boston Medical Center,” Frazier said. “She underwent surgery and has since been released from the hospital.”
The chief said Lydon faces additional surgery.
The attack on Lydon was the third incident in a short period of time involving the department’s canines, prompting the review by Frazier.
Police dog Dargo was discovered to have a genetic impairment after attacking his handler and needed to be euthanized, he said.
Yento, another police dog, attacked a handler’s son at their home, the chief said.
Police dogs are usually used in searches for suspects and missing persons, with some trained to detect drugs or explosives.
Frazier was unavailable for comment Wednesday on what will happen to the dogs that had been assigned to the patrol division. Police dogs normally live with their handlers.
The chief, who is retiring Aug. 3, recommends a “very thorough, independent review of the K-9 program” be conducted before it is reinstated.
“It’s bad enough that one of our finest officers has become a victim of a K-9 attack, but if this was a member of the general public, the town could be sued,” Frazier said.
Fred Hanson may be reached at fhanson@ledger.com.
Read more: http://www.patriotledger.com/topstories/x1040016777/Braintree-police-dogs-taken-off-the-job-after-attacks#ixzz1y5AZBB78
I really dislike articles like this because they don’t provide any details which would help make sense of the situation. I think temperament is 100% genetic and 100% environment. I would think a serious review of the training program of this department is in order. From the picture that goes with the article, Lucky looks like a lab so genetics is not the common denominator here. I would look first at training.
Just my two cents…
It could be a combination of the training of the dogs, as well as the education and handling skills (or lack thereof) of the handlers. Only a thorough investigation can determine what contributed to the aberrant behavior of the dogs involved.
I agree a review is in order and am glad they are doing so. While I view K9s as true heroes, we also have to remember that they are *just* dogs. Like human LEOs, they constantly train and work under stress. They are expected to be used as shields to protect human officers, deployed as “weapons” that take down fleeing criminals, but also be perfectly behaved when not deployed. I once read some nasty comments from someone complaining that a K9 in a vehicle had barked at her dog walking by. Apparently the general public expects these dogs to be everything to everyone at all times.
Based on some recent experience with “K9 trainers” I strongly believe that not all dogs/units/trainers/officers are alike. I had a long conversation with an ex-K9 officer who’s first dog ripped his arm apart the first day of training and he admitted to me he knew almost nothing about dog training or handling dogs. I’ve trained with people who advertise police K9 training and actually have certifications but aren’t officers and have never owned/handled and active police K9. So, there are people “certifying” police K9s that haven’t been in law enforcement and don’t actually handle active K9s. I have huge respect for properly bred and trained K9s and their trainers/handlers but unfortunately not all are on the same level and I didn’t have to go looking to discover this.
Excellent point. It comes down to what are the trainers expectations as well. I have met many police canines and spoke with their handlers and there is a very wide range not only of experience but also in what they believe makes a good police dog. Some want a very sound dog that can decide when and where to be aggressive while others believe the meaner the better and will encourage aggressive behavior.
In the end it is the same with the sport and/or the family dog. We have different ideas of what is good temperament and will sometimes confuse expert training for sound temperament. I have seen some dogs that on the surface seem like the ideal because they are so expertly trained but a closer look shows a dog who is ready to go off for all the wrong reasons.
You can’t fix poor genetic temperament but you can manage it well with correct training and handling. The problem may be that many police departments buy trained dogs from expert trainers that appear awesome but once placed with just an average police dog handler, the management falls short and the genetic short comings come to light.
Unfortunately, there are breeders who believe that German Shepherds correctly should have an “edge” to them and breed for this “edge”. In fact the most complained about change in the new schutzhund(sorry, IPO) rules, is the fact that the judge can now touch the dogs during the temperant check. There are many people who are worried about their dog biting the judge if this happens. I believe a dog with a sound mind and good training should be able to distinguish between someone who is a threat and a neutral person who means them no harm.