Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung (Newspaper)
Kommissar Rex" 1 a Lap Dog?

Less and Less Shepherd Dogs Are Suited For Police Work

Copyright 1998

The following article was printed in the well-known German News Papers "Rhein-Necckar-Zeitung." I find it very interesting that one of the most prestigious police dog schools in Germany (the Hessian Police Academy in Mühlheim am Main) is saying that they are tired of the SV and their foolish fetish about putting looks, movement and beauty over the working ability of a dog. Here we have it in black and white that less than 20% of the SV German Shepherds have the necessary drive to do police service work.

Here in America we see the same thing happening with the AKC and Schutzhund USA. Within the past 5 or 6 years Schutzhund USA has stuck its head in the confirmation toilet. This is a direct result of misdirected leadership of Paul Meloy. I am convinced Paul Meloys legacy to this breed will be something like "Here is a man who had a chance to make a difference and blew it. Here is a man who was more concerned with his ego than his integrity."

No genealogical table or "breed standard" decides whether a four-legged will be a good police dog or not.

According to the Police from the state of Hessen, fewer and fewer German Shepherd Dogs of German breed lines are suited for use as service dogs. It's getting more and more difficult to find suitable dogs, states Manfred Willnat, Chief of the Schutzhundabteilung4 with the Hessian Police Academy in Mühlheim am Main. Only every fifth dog passes the test for use as Police dog. "Beauty goes clearly before performance," Willnat complains about the "breed standards" of the pure breed organization. The result, "Kommissar Rex" is coming more and more from Eastern European Countries, where Shepherd Dogs are supposedly less spoiled.

"We need a working dog and not a family dog," say the dog trainers. They demand hardness, courage, fight drive and a "certain natural sharpness."

Among the 320 Hessian service dogs are approx. 260 shepherd dogs. They are not such a noble troop. The coat of some is too long, teeth are not perfect, or they have only one testicle.