Some dog breeds that serve and protect:
German Shepards (above) are most widely used for their strength, intelligence, teachability, and obedience. Used in: narcotics, explosives, tracking, and apprehension.
Labrador Retrievers are used for tracking of humans but not (as most lab owners would appreciate) for apprehension of suspects.
Belgian Malinois, aka the Belgian Shepard, is used as a working dog for detecting narcotics, explosives, and accelerants (in arson investigations), tracking humans and suspect apprehension.
Dutch Shepard: a herding dog originating in Holland used as a working dog for detecting narcotics, explosives, and tracking humans and suspect apprehension.
Giant Schnauzer: a working breed developed in Germany in the 1600s, originally used to drive livestock to market and as a guard dog. It became popular as a military dog in World Wars I and II. Used by police in odor detection of narcotics and explosives, and tracking humans and suspect apprehension.
Beagles are known for their noses, and have been used to sniff out drugs and explosives.
Bloodhounds can track a specific person’s odor over great distances, and also locate explosives, drugs, and evidence.
To read more on dogs in law enforcement throughout the ages, read our post Canine Cops: Sit. Stay. Arrest!
(Images, from top to bottom: Jonathan Salmi/EyeEm; Getty Images, Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images; Hans Surfer/Getty Images; John Cancalosi/Getty Images; Hans Surfer/Getty Images; Arterra/UIG via Getty Images; Sandy Huffaker/Corbis via Getty Images; Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
