I recently read, I believe in USA magazine, that about 80% of police service dogs in the United States
are being imported. They blame it on the lack of good dogs being bred in North America. I would like others opinions...is that true or is it that most dog owners here only raise one pup at a time and aren't interested in selling it for k-9 after all the time and effort that they have invested in it? Most police dogs seems to be purchased at not younger than one year of age and I would like to know who in Europe is raising them for that first year? Most of us here feel that it is only possible to raise one quality dog at a time. Any input folks? Who is raising these dogs which are being imported and how?

I know this crazy Dutchman that breeds and raises dogs for KNPV and police applications. He never keeps females, he keeps every male born and raises about 4 to 6 dogs at any one time. These dogs he works in dope, tracking/trailing, and the foundation for KNPV titles. He puts every dog up for sale at 11 months old and as they get older and get more training their prices go up.

This is how he suppliments his income now that he took an early retirement. I think he does a very good job. My brother and I bought two GSD mixes from him and both were well socialized, housetrained, and had excellent foundations for just about any type of work you could ask of them.


I honestly don't think there are too many people in the US that have the skill level or resources readily at hand (helpers/stock/trainers) to do this very well. Maybe that is one reason there are so many imports.

The imports I see that the cops buy are always green dogs that will bite a sleeve(usually) when they get them. I just dont believe there are many if more than a handfull of dogs being imported by police that are already trained to be police k9s.Its my understanding that it is getting hard to get good green imports due to the military buying them all up. Ive heard the military are buying like 150 a month since 911.Then wash out a high percentage.Dont shoot the messenger(me) thats what Ive heard, I dont know.

Our Dept. is finishing up our vendor selection process now for a new purchace and we found the price of a green dog seems to be hovering around $3,500. With training the price is getting into the $8K - $9K range. Titled dogs are realy getting pricey and pretty much price themselves out. We found that it's not so much the supply/demand that's driving the prices up but the strong euro and the weak dollar.

We found two vendors who are breeding their own stock and training their dogs... both were exceptional. It would be nice to have more US and Canadian breeders as I believe we (the police) arn't getting the best quality dogs from Europe. The europeans are keeping the outstanding dogs for themselves and we get the left overs.

Also, some of the things you find out about the lives of these dogs before you get them is awefull. One dog was sensative around his ears, later we found that when he was living in the Czeck Republic they corrected his out by jamming their fingers in his ear. Explain that when he bites a kid at a grade school demo.

I think the thing that impressed me about the US breader we met with was the pride that they took in their lines and the great lengths they went to develope realy well ballanced dogs.... compaired to one that had 95 imported dogs to choose from... can you realy find 95 dogs for police work every two months? NO!

One thing I have "heard" is that it is cheaper to go overseas. That dogs that are raised in the US "generally" have a higher asking price than a comparable dog from overseas.

You have to also consider the size of our country compared to Europe. A broker/vendor/etc. can go to Germany/Netherlands/Belgium/etc. and test many dogs in a much smaller area compared to here. Sure, I might have one dog to sell, but when you can go to Belgium and test a lot of dogs, why spend near the same amount to test one dog here? If you have more dogs to choose from, the risk of coming back empty handed is a lot smaller.

While I have not done much importing of late, I can tell you that it is harder to buy good dogs over in Europe late. The biggest problem is the Euro. This is a big problem with he German dog dealers; they will not absorb the loss with the exchange. Another problem is that the Czeck people are now having a big influx of Americans coming to buy dogs directly from them, instead of the Germans,(Germans buying from the Czeck people, then re-selling to the Americans) The price of these dogs have gone up, as the Czecks now know what we are willing to pay. The Germans will not pay for the most part the type of money to buy a dog from them, as he will not be able to profit from the dog when he retails it. So they now have a smaller pool to buy from. Demand has also gone up, but this is not the biggest problem.

The thing is in Europe there is a big dog history there. So working dogs are everywhere; dog clubs etc. We do not have the history that they have. You can drive in Germany and buy a dog from a regular person just like here, but there are 10 times the regular Joe's looking to sell a dog to a vendor, then you have in America. I can count on two fingers the amount of people that I know in the States that are selling in clubs or pet homes. This is not so in Europe. So thus more dogs available. Dog prices have not gone up much in ten years, a green service dog canidate was selling for about the same retail in the States 10 years ago, as it does today. Times change, and Departments are not. Most departments, will not pay more then $4000.00 for a dog that is suitable for service dog training. When you consider that most breeders in America sell thier pups for over a $1000.00, $3500.00 is nothing for a dog that is almost two and has had training.

Also in Germany there are a lot of clubs that have 80 or so members. Most of these poeple cannot train dogs, but it is a social thing.Like the VA thing here. So they raise a pup, sell it, and start over. Their intrest is really not to title a dog. Vendors get dogs over there from these type of folks too. This is not so in America.

Since I import a handful every year i can say that the weak dollar is driving up the price by 25%.
There are good dogs available but not a lot.
The market ebs and flows.
Who has dogs and when changes all the time.
Currently it is easier to get nice GSD's than nice Malinois!!! A first for me.
The number of working line GSD's is experiencing a resurgence and I feel will for a few more years.

As an individual who needs the occasional good working dog for our police deparment it actually is more cost effective to buy a green dog from a vendor than to beat the bushes looking for a diamond in the rough. I simply don't have the time or energy to search high and low for the donated dog or dog that has become too much for the family. I can go to one location and look at several dogs.

I will say that the vendor that I have relied on for several years has not had much for me to look at as of late. He certainly has been raising the prices on the dogs that he has been able to get.

Michael makes an interesting point when he says the Czecks have learned what we are willing to pay. It seems that at one time Germany was THE place to get good dogs. Then we dicovered that good dogs could be obtained from neighboring countries. One by one they seem to have caught on the fact thay we'll pay substantial amounts of money for these dogs. The last four dogs that I bought were from Hungary. Go figure. Ten years ago I would have never imagined that we'd be getting our dogs from Hungary.

Czech. My grandmother is rolling in her...bed.