# Police K9s at home



## Nurse Bishop (Nov 20, 2016)

Do police dogs go home with their officers when off duty? If so, how do they live? Do they live in a kennel most of the time? Do they live with the family in the house? Do they lie on the couch? (probably not)


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## konathegsd (Dec 3, 2016)

I know two local police k9s. Both go home with the officer. One lives outdoors in a kennel and the other ones lives inside just like a normal pet. One is a apprehension k9 and the other is a explosives detection k9


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## JessicaR (Oct 25, 2016)

We had our local K9 cop come in and do a demonstration for our 4H club , this is what his handler said when he was asked that question. 
Andy, a mal, lives in the house with his handler, his wife and his young son. He is treated like a family pet and yes he sometimes sleeps on the couch. If Jake is not home and Andy is not with him, he has an outdoor kennel with a roof, since he once jumped their 6 foot privacy fence! 

Oh, he is an apprehension and narcotic detection dog.


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## Slamdunc (Dec 6, 2007)

The dogs do go home with their handlers at the end of their shift. The dogs live at home with their handlers. The living arrangements are unique to the handler, dog and family situation. I raised my dog Boomer from a 7 week old pup and he always lived in the house. He went out to his kennel when we had company. My current K9 Partner, Boru is a different dog altogether. He lives at my house, has a kennel and a yard to run in. He is not the dog you bring to the family picnic and has no interaction alone with my wife. He is either loose in the yard, or in a kennel if I am not home. If I was single and only had one dog, Boru could come int the house with me. He is not the dog I would have loose in the house with family members or guests. He is a working dog, not a pet. 

It really depends on the dog and the situation. Police K-9's should be working dogs, first and foremost. Some can relax and home and be good family dogs, some can't. Doesn't make Boru a bad dog, he is an excellent Patrol / Narcotics dog. That is why I have him and what is needed from him.


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## Nurse Bishop (Nov 20, 2016)

Thank you Officer Slamdunk you explain it so well.


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## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

it depends on the department as well. some prefer that the dogs stay in kennels. Others allow them to go home with their human partners. Some of those are required to follow specific rules for kenneling the dog when off-duty while others are allowed to have the dog live as a part of the family.


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## Slamdunc (Dec 6, 2007)

I don't know of any PD's in the US that keep K9's in Department Kennels. The handlers have a kennel at home for the safety and well being of the dog when it is not working.


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## Nurse Bishop (Nov 20, 2016)

Slamdunk, you mentioned Boru has no interaction with your wife. Why is this? Is it because a working dog should have only one trainer?


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## Slamdunc (Dec 6, 2007)

Nurse Bishop said:


> Slamdunk, you mentioned Boru has no interaction with your wife. Why is this? Is it because a working dog should have only one trainer?


Not necessarily. Boru is a very strong, fast, reactive and serious dog. He not only has to trust his handler, it is imperative that he also respects his handler. Not the dog that you allow to be loose with others, except when working. Boru will bite with little provocation, and if you get nervous or excited things can escalate very quickly. He and I get along very well, he trusts and respects me, but I handle him very carefully. My other sport and working dogs all were fine around my wife, living in the house never effected their drive or working ability. My sport or working commands are in German or Dutch, only I use those commands. My wife can give the dogs commands in English only. She will not reinforce the commands like I do The dogs may be slow to respond to her English commands but are always very responsive to my German or Dutch commands. 

Boru is truly an outstanding Patrol dog, but he would not make a good pet or a dog for an inexperienced handler or family situation. He's found his niche and spot with me, I appreciate his good qualities, drive and aggression. I have also accepted his quirks, reactivity and occasional displaced aggression. He has come a really long way and has become an excellent dog overall, for me.


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## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

Slamdunc said:


> I don't know of any PD's in the US that keep K9's in Department Kennels. The handlers have a kennel at home for the safety and well being of the dog when it is not working.


Our local SO kept the single K9 in a department kennel. They regularly switched policy between "take the dog home" "leave the dog here when off-duty" They no longer have a k9 officer.


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

Slamdunc said:


> I don't know of any PD's in the US that keep K9's in Department Kennels. The handlers have a kennel at home for the safety and well being of the dog when it is not working.


Thanks, Jim! I have repeatedly heard folks in other areas of the breed promote the false narrative that LE k9s cannot live at home with the insinuation that they are too dangerous or active for home life. And while in my experiences there are SOME K9s that would not do well in home environment, I have found the majority are able to make the transition quite well. Most LE k9s are not crazed biting machines, or never settle down dogs that can’t live reliably in house with handler. ....but many believe this.?


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## Muskeg (Jun 15, 2012)

I went on a tour of our city's Animal Control Facility about 15 years ago now - and they showed us the kennels in the back-right next to the quarantine kennels, where the police K9s "relax and chill". At the time I was thinking, what a horrible place to put working dogs- in a place full of stressed out dogs, barking, and metal pens! 

They have changed their policy since, but that bothered me.


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

I know there is a K-9 unit kennel that houses dogs but I think it’s mostly for when officers have to go to court and things like that. When my daughters school had an animal club they would have Police officers visit with their dogs and talk about the different jobs the dogs had. They would give out baseball type cards out with the dogs name what country the dog came from and the job the dog did and their stats! The officers would talk about the dogs work day and when the work day was done - they were either separated and kenneled at home or lived with the family like slamdunc had mentionened. She got to see a lot of different dogs and hear about the different personalities.


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## Slamdunc (Dec 6, 2007)

Dainerra said:


> Our local SO kept the single K9 in a department kennel. They regularly switched policy between "take the dog home" "leave the dog here when off-duty" They no longer have a k9 officer.


That is a shame that they no longer have a K-9 program. We have a policy in place for the housing and kenneling of our K-9's as well. The dogs are taken home each day. Every handler has a covered Kennel and concrete pad built for his dog. In addition the handler must have a secured fenced yard. The handler can have the dog in his / her home and the dog can sleep indoors or in the kennel. Most of the dogs in our unit live with the family and are social dogs, especially with family members. 

In our Policy and SOP's the dog can not be left unattended in a Kennel for more than 12 hours. If the handler goes on vacation or out of town the dog is Kenneled at our animal control facility. We have a separate area to Kennel the K-9's. That would be the only time the dogs are Kenneled at a facility. Care of the animals is a huge responsibility. Our Sgt does random home inspections to ensure the dogs are housed properly and kenneled at home when the handler is in court or not home on days off.


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## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

Yess .... what people believe???? I "believe" that some K9 handlers and there dogs ... aren't that good??? Don't make you dogs "problems" your neighbors problem! A couple cases in point.:


*Moderator deleted due to off topic links. I would strongly suggest staying on topic and not turning this into a LE or K9 bashing thread. *

And in the one case, I'd say "if you can't keep your "Dog" in his own yard ... then maybe they ought not to have them?" But maybe my standards for acceptable behaviour are to high??? 

Not saying all off duty K9's are wild and out of control, but clearly "some are," just saying.


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

Chip those stories are not the norm. Sad the dog was mishandled and sad this happened. I would imagine if it was the norm many areas would not have a K-9 unit which would be a shame. I know the K-9 units sure improve the way of life in nyc. There were many at the thanksgiving day parade and some vapor sniffing dogs which is something I have not heard keeping everyone safe.


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## Slamdunc (Dec 6, 2007)

Muskeg said:


> I went on a tour of our city's Animal Control Facility about 15 years ago now - and they showed us the kennels in the back-right next to the quarantine kennels, where the police K9s "relax and chill". At the time I was thinking, what a horrible place to put working dogs- in a place full of stressed out dogs, barking, and metal pens!
> 
> They have changed their policy since, but that bothered me.


Our city recently built a new animal Control facility, they spent about $8 million on this facility. It is a very nice building. There is a separate room in the facility that has kennels reserved for our K-9's. Honestly, none of our handlers like kenneling their dogs there when they go on vacation for the reasons you mentioned. The room for our dogs only houses them and dogs seized for court cases. Yet, there is still a loud cacophony of dogs barking, and occasionally some chickens or a goat. That is why Boru travels with me, he has been to Florida at least a dozen times, Ga, NJ, etc. in the past two years. He travels well and is an easy dog to be around on trips.


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## Slamdunc (Dec 6, 2007)

@Chip18, I really don't think your "standards for acceptable behavior are all that high." I really don't think you have the experience or knowledge to judge what a tough dog is or even a hard to handle dog, or even what is involved in working and handling a Patrol dog. 

I haven't looked at your links or read them. Yes, things happen and not every K-9 handler is a superb handler. I'm going to warn you to not turn this thread in a Police bashing or K-9 bashing thread. The risks that K-9 handlers and their dogs take every day to keep their communities safe is far greater than you walking your dog down the street avoiding stray dogs. 

*This thread will not be turned in a LE bashing or K-9 bashing thread. Consider this the only warning on this thread!*


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

Slamdunc said:


> I don't know of any PD's in the US that keep K9's in Department Kennels. The handlers have a kennel at home for the safety and well being of the dog when it is not working.


I cannot say for certain, but to the best of my knowledge the dogs here in Calgary are kept at the K-9 facility. It does not seem ideal but the facility is beautiful and the dogs I have had contact with are well cared for and happy. 
We had a run of bad luck here several years back but the unit has recovered and is doing well.


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## deacon (Sep 5, 2011)

There are 2 large cities here in Alabama that keep their dogs kenneled. A third the city of Dothan with 10 teams is building a facility as I write this as well. The city claims it will save them money not having to pay the handlers compensation to care for them.


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

deacon said:


> There are 2 large cities here in Alabama that keep their dogs kenneled. A third the city of Dothan with 10 teams is building a facility as I write this as well.* The city claims it will save them money not having to pay the handlers compensation to care for them*.


not sure what kind of savings they'd expect. Still need to be fed, vetted and now the additional cost of operating/maintaining a kennel.


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

With our county Sheriffs dept, there are 5 patrol dogs and 4 bloodhounds. The patrol dogs go home, three of four bloodhounds are kenneled. So I guess everybody is right:smile2:


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## RZZNSTR (Jan 24, 2015)

Mine came home with me and was with me after his retirement until the day he died. He was very stealthy and quiet in the house unless something triggered his aggression. After his retirement I had him for an for a couple more years. He remained quiet but highly alert. While he was still with us I never had any worries about the wife or the house.


When I worked for the Federal government our dogs were in a contract kennel during their working years. After their retirement/end of service the handler could adopt them and they would live out their remaining years in a home.


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

Nigel said:


> not sure what kind of savings they'd expect. Still need to be fed, vetted and now the additional cost of operating/maintaining a kennel.


One person tending 10 dogs is going to be more cost effective then compensating 10 people for caring for 1 dog each, plus boarding when handlers are off duty/vacations, etc. 
And I am sure that there are insurance considerations.


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## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

also, some kennels that are on department policy have a lot of the basic kennel work done by 409s (jail trustees) so free labor.


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## Nurse Bishop (Nov 20, 2016)

I love this vid of GSD police dog in training. 






Oh. I guess he's a Mal.

Look at the look on his face at the end.


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## Levi T (Oct 10, 2017)

This thread just reminded me back when I was in high school and our neighbor just got his k9. Beautiful GSD, but thats the only positive thing I can say. We were asked not to socialize with the dog, they had two sons I went to school with and we played football after school together, so we respected his request. But it became very annoying that 99% of the time when they were off duty the k9 was locked in his cage outside, rain or snow, outside...The cage was 8ft high, and 6ft x 6ft with no roof. The k9 would escape, jumping on the tiny house over the fence, and would rush down to our house to play with our dogs, we had a Jack Russell, and a Great Pyrenees and they would play and play, if they were aloud to... We wouldn't call the handler, unless my parents found out he was out, I wasnt calling because I wasn't aloud to socialize with him and you could tell the poor thing just wanted to have a little fun. 

The Officer was "Retired" and I believe the k9 actually got a good handler after that.


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