Is nothing sacred? German police in one area of Germany are replacing their K-9 German Shepherds with their cousins to the west...the Belgian shepherd, according to this article at The Telegraph.
From the article:
Guenther Bonke, in charge of police dogs in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, said that “while the German Shepherd is definitely not stupid, it often does not have the potential we need.”
Among other things, Mr Bonke said, he finds Belgian Shepherds – also known as Malinois – protect their handlers better in crisis situations, are more robust, and act more aggressively when needed.
He said police in North Rhine-Westphalia came to that conclusion after breeding both types of dog for five years and observing their performance.
The state’s police force stopped breeding German Shepherds in 2005 altogether and now has only 26 German Shepherds, versus 281 Belgian Shepherds. It rounds out its total canine unit of 350 with various other breeds. While Mr Bonke did not have any numbers for the rest of the country, he said the trend there is similar.
German Shepherds tend to be taller and heavier and have more strength, while their Belgian counterparts are lighter, more mobile and can stay on police duty for a longer time, he said.
I guess it depends on what you are actually using the K-9 for but I must say, I think if I'm on the front line of a riot and outnumbered 50 to 1 by anarchists, I'd rather have the German Shepherd on my short leash.
But hey, that's just me.
German police phase out the German Shepherd in favour of Belgian version
Guenther Bonke, in charge of police dogs in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, said that “while the German Shepherd is definitely not stupid, it often does not have the potential we need.”
Among other things, Mr Bonke said, he finds Belgian Shepherds – also known as Malinois – protect their handlers better in crisis situations, are more robust, and act more aggressively when needed.
He said police in North Rhine-Westphalia came to that conclusion after breeding both types of dog for five years and observing their performance.
The state’s police force stopped breeding German Shepherds in 2005 altogether and now has only 26 German Shepherds, versus 281 Belgian Shepherds. It rounds out its total canine unit of 350 with various other breeds. While Mr Bonke did not have any numbers for the rest of the country, he said the trend there is similar.
German Shepherds tend to be taller and heavier and have more strength, while their Belgian counterparts are lighter, more mobile and can stay on police duty for a longer time, he said.
“Belgian Shepherds can more often be used as both a guard dog and a tracking dog for drugs and explosives,” he said. “In the end, those dogs are a better investment for us.”
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