If you’ve ever seen a guard dog walking alongside of a policeman you may have wondered what the dog was there for. Many people suspect that with today’s modern technology and consistently new innovation, that using trained animals might be a bit outdated. The truth of the matter is that guard dogs serve a valuable purpose for police departments as well as in many military operations. There are some things that dogs are still better at then humans or machines.
One of the key reasons we still use guard dogs is for their amazing ability to sniff out and locate illegal drugs. Police dog training teaches specific canines how to identify illegal narcotics. The dog doesn’t get high or harmed in the process, it simply associates the action of locating the drugs with a reward from its handler. The dog’s sense of smell is at least 50 times more powerful than that of a human’s, giving it a clear advantage in the drug location business, even ahead of many machines.
Police and military dogs can also smell bombs or firearms. The are trained in the same way as drug sniffing dogs are, to identify certain smells associated with the target and are rewarded for finding them. Usually the K9 unit puts their dogs through guard dog training to make sure that the animals are well trained and responsive. Being able to properly respond to orders is key for police dogs.
Lastly, police dogs can also be used for search and rescue missions or to hunt down criminals. Some guard dog breeds are trained to track down targets by identifying a scent given to them. The military even makes use of this by employing dogs to find hidden snipers. A dog’s sense of smell is so strong that with proper training it can be taught to not only catch criminals but also save human lives.
The majority of the benefits of a guard dog come from its sense of smell but the only reason we can work with these great animals is the fact that they are highly intelligent. Additionally their loyalty, strength and ability to learn makes them excellent companions as well as helpers. No one is exactly sure when humans and dogs first started working together, but over the centuries a strong bond has formed between the two species that has resulted in dogs becoming an integral part of human society for many purposes ranging from protection to friendship.
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