One hears a great deal about bad-tempered dogs and soft-tempered ones, but it is not so much a display of temper as nervousness. If a dog keeps his eye on the sheep, no matter how soft he is in the temper, any capable trainer can make him a good dog, but the one who won’t keep his eye on the sheep can never become proficient in his service to his lord and master.
Police Dogs
It is admitted on all hands that the dog is capable of training to do his master’s bidding in a great many different ways.
Other chapters appear in this work detailing with what purpose he is used as an aid to the hunter, sportsman, courser, for the drawing of quick-firing guns into the firing line, for ambulance work, for sentry duty, as an indispensable aid in all Arctic and Antarctic expeditions, to say nothing of the sport certain breeds give us as racing and performing dogs.
The purport of this chapter is to indicate with what success he is being trained as a branch of the police force. Thousands of dogs, mostly of the German and Belgian sheepdog variety, are at this present time enrolled in the widely scattered police and other municipal forces of America and other countries.
In the training of dogs for this work a special aptitude on the part of the “handler” or “guide” is essential. Given a reasonable amount of common sense, unlimited patience and an understanding of a dog’s nature, success is assured in a large majority of cases.
The police dog trial is an old story so far as Germany, Belgium and Holland are concerned. Americans are now taking this highly instructive work in hand and the displays create a tremendous amount of enthusiastic interest. The objects of such trials are:
1. Obedience exercises.
2. Detective work.
3. Protective work.