Belgian Malinois: “Will fight crime for food and fun”

Training the police dog. Recently I got to watch these amazing dogs in training for a story I wrote. It was a most enlightening experience.

While police work is serious to humans, to the dogs it’s fun, it’s what they were bred and born to do.

Our local police department uses the Belgian Malinois as the police dog of choice. The Belgian Malinois (pronounced mal-in-wah) looks similar to the German Shepherd Dog, but is smaller, sleeker and faster. Since this isn’t a high crime area with not much need for crowd control, this breed is better suited for the purposes.

The dogs are selected from a breeding program in Holland and imported as puppies. For the first few months they are allowed to be normal puppies, living with the families of their patrol partners and working on basic socialization and bonding before starting training.

Dogs suitable for police work are those with high fight drive. Using positive reinforcement, training starts with what we think of as puppy play: chasing, biting, and tug-of-war.

Team teaching. Both the instructor, who is a graduate of a Police Canine Instructor School, and the dog’s partner/handler, who is a patrol officer, work together with each dog for the months it takes to get certified.

The dogs are taught to obey German commands. The commands are sharp and clear so there is less danger that the dogs will be confused by commands given by someone other than their handler.

After playing chase for a while the dog is taught to bite the instructor, (wearing a full body protective suit) in the back between the shoulder blades and not to release until given the command by the handler. Then the dog immediately releases and goes to a down position.

The reason for the bite to the back is that, although painful, it does not cause debilitating damage as a broken bone would. The suspect also will be less likely to use a weapon with a dog’s jaws clamped firmly onto his back.

In pursuing a suspect the patrolman must say three times, “Police Officer, stop or I’ll send my dog.” If the suspect continues running after the third warning, the dog is released to attack, hold, and to go into a down position on command.

It’s important to realize that the dog doesn’t know it is inflicting pain. While the dog bites and hangs on, the instructor yells and screams as a suspect might, but for the dog this is all part of the game.

These police dogs have an on-off switch. They serve in a public relations capacity, perform for civic groups, and must be good with children. A vicious or disobedient dog cannot be tolerated. At the end of the day the dog goes home with his handler and lives like a normal family dog. When they are retired, typically at ages 8-10, they continue living with their families.

Before going on patrol a dog must be certified in five areas:

1. Obedience on and off leash
2. Finding a human hiding in a building
3. Finding a human hiding in the open
4. Chasing down and biting a fleeing suspect. Releasing on command
5. Protecting his partner from a resisting suspect

The dogs are also trained to sniff out marijuana, methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and opium. Some dogs have been able to pay for themselves by identifying drug dealers and allowing authorities to seize their property.

After being certified, each dog and handler must complete three 10-hour training days a month to maintain certification. To the dog, it’s playtime. Rewards depend on the individual dog. Some respond to food, some to praise, others to a rousing game of fetch for a job well done.

Anyone who thinks dogs are being exploited by doing police work has only to watch these happy, smiling dogs in action.

Comments

[jackie]

i needed those trainers to get my first 2 husbands under control...

[Louka]

I love Belgian shepherds, but I've only met Tervueren and Groendel, not Malinois-type. They're great dogs and I can see how they could be amazing police dogs.

I met a K-9 officer once. He adored his dog, it was obvious, but he was still mourning his previous dog and we got treated to a lot of fun dog stories. It was really funny, because in the man's tool belt, he had a black kong. I spent half of the conference wondering what the heck that black thing was until he took it out to demonstrate that his dog learned to train by having fun. When I was younger, i wanted to be a K-9 officer. I've grown out of it, but I have a lot of admiration for them.

[Sling]

I'm glad you pointed out that a vicious dog would not be tolerated.
I won't go off here about people that purposefully lead them in that direction.
Dogs,in general,live to please.
Whether it's as a police dog,a military K9,or just a family pet,they love to serve and protect...
Patience,and a loving hand will always produce a happy,and eager to please working dog,and companion.

[Lonie Polony]

...and anyone who is unkind to working dogs deserves to be punished to the full extent of the law. Damn druggies.

[teetotaled]

Wonderful info Jan. These dogs sound like they are living very fullfilling lives and having some fun also!

[Diamond Emerald-Eyes]

They also like donut holes. There was a retired one where we lived and he always got donut holes as a treat. Srly.

[Chandira]

One of my bosses is training a guide dog, and he's awesome. What a wonderful dog. They love it too, apart from the non-peting bit, he was really struggling with that part when he came in the office last time. They can be petted when they're not in uniform, but when they are, they have to not respond if people pet them. That was a huge struggle for Steel, who's obviously a very affectionate dog.

I used to worry about horse racing, too, until I realised horses love it, for the most part.

[Charles]

What a great job. Training police dogs would be like playing with puppies all day.

[Jimmy]

I've been catching up on the last three posts and enjoyed them all! Yes, dogs need and enjoy a little work with their play time!

[Matt]

I'm always fascinated by police dogs and how well they are trained.

[Coll]

Beautiful dogs. I have watched the competitive trials for these dogs on "Top Dogs" on TV.. amazingly trained. The on/off switch is an incredible thing to watch. I had no idea the commands were in German but it makes such good sense. Very interesting post.

[MJ]

Wow! I never thought of police dogs being "exploited". Any body that knows dogs knows the working breeds need to have a job to do! To have a working breed and not give him a job to do is what is cruel. I have a lab/dobie mix and his job is to fetch the paper every morning. May not sound like much, but he gets so excited about it! And he'll fetch sticks for hours, if you let him. And if he loses a tossed stick, you have to throw another one in his general direction, he will not give up until he has something to bring back to you. That's not so bad in the fields, but he'll do that in the water too - that gets me a little worried. Thank goodness for floating fetch toys - he doesn't lose those.

[Marion]

I really enjoyed this post. I worried about how dogs felt after inflicting pain on humans; to learn it is considered a game is very liberating for me. Humanizing again, lol.

I am in awe of these courageous dogs, who obey without question.

[Saint Lover]

Nice post! Our police use them as well. We helped raise money for a new one a while back with the Humane Society. To have one imported a few years ago it cost $60,000.00 and they come trained.

[CuriosityKiller]

I'm so impressed. These dogs are more talented than me.

[gus and louie]

That is awesome. We had no idea of how much training those dogs have to do. They certainly sound like they are enjoying their life of crime fighting...

[Fuzzy Logic]

Friends of mine have 5 Maliois between them.. what a dedicated, busy minded breed! Perfect for police work.

[cube]

I don't think I've ever heard of this breed. Thanks for the enlightening post.

[Mia and Maggie]

First time to the site and I will definitely be back; solid information. Regarding Belgian's, I never knew of the breed. I guess I always thought they were German shepards. I would love to see them in action!

[serendipity]

Thanks for sharing. Didn't really know how they train police dogs till now. They do look rather like GSD, don't they?

[Mack]

Man, I wish I had a job like that!!