Spoken like a true gentleman. Maligators is a nickname that many folks call them. I am sorry you do not understand these dogs. Go to Belgium and see some of the NVBK dogs and then tell me of weak nerves, sir. I don't speak of what I have heard, just what I have worked and seen. Simple as that. I appreciate that Josh clarified his position. Now if you go reread again what I wrote you will see I don't care what breed we talk about. A good dog is a good dog. But I have seen MANY good malinois bitches. Now as for you trying to discredit me for using a nickname...how silly is that? Anything else you want nit pick about?

It seems you cannot compprehend what is written. I once again did not say there were no great ones and all Mals have bad nerves, sir. I guess we will always clash on this one.

I can list a handful of female PSD's. The one on K9 to 5 was not SLCPD's dog. It is from a smaller Utah community though I can't remember which. Nice bitch. LAPD worked a Rottie bitch (just goes to show there are exceptions to everything). Of the ones that I have seen most of the PSD females were nothing too impressive. I certainly think that if a bitch is found that can do the work use her. As hard as it is to find good PSD's regardless of sex or breed I believe that if more females were available that could work more would be used. Do some departments over look good ones? Yep, some handlers feel that the pair between the legs is important. Some just don't bother to look due to their historic scarcity. When we do find them most are working in scent work (I have a black lab female for narc work that was removed as a potential breeding dog due to small size...so size matters to more than just psd and ppd dog people). Females also have to be spayed (increased cost to dept.) or you have to tolerate their heat cycle (a sure way to piss off a handler of a male psd you're working with). Also, it has been mentioned that females good enough for psd work are held back to be bred by breed enthusiasts. Great females are hard to find and once you have one you can take her to a great male. That male may produce a large number of pups but that female is very limited in what she produces in a lifetime, again making the great female more valuable in a breeding program than on the street.

Kevin,

what do you think of Mr Werner Rapien' PSP female?

Thanks
Rafa

Originally posted by Rafael:
Kevin,

what do you think of Mr Werner Rapien' PSP female?

Thanks
Rafa

I've not seen this female work.
Kevin

Well, here is my two cents worth. Most PSD's are male because of a way of thinking. Everyone likes to see a large, big boned male GSD. It is intimidating. A good visual. But we are not talking about show dogs. At some point, the sh** might hit the proverbial fan and it won't matter what your dog looks like. Bigger is not better in a dog. I have seen malinois and small GSD's 45-55lbs that are very quick and bite very hard. The hardest bite I've ever taken has been from a female. And I prefer a slightly smaller dog. They are much quicker, can work longer, and can usually outperform the bigger, heaver dogs in just about every aspect. In my opinion, females form a stronger bond, are less distracted, and defend much better than males. In fact, I think the genetics of a pup come more from the mother than the father. Has anyone here heard that during WWII the Germans had elite dog units that were completely comprised of females? I think war could be considered highly stressful. Don't you? I honestly think the reason so many PSD's are male is because of the mindset, the visual, and that the higher ups just can't imagine having a PSD in heat. (What will people think if they see .....you know.) I'm quite aware that I am going against the grain here, but I believe it to be the truth. Now, I know nothing about males vs. females for show or sport, but as far as personal protection, deployment, tracking, in real life scenarios.....I'd prefer a female.

That makes sense to me. Females in the wild are usually tougher than males - especially in defense of their young or pride/pack mates, and are generally more tenacious and vicious. Thats true across many species.

This may sound crazy for most of you, but I feel that the females are more than adequate when it comes to Police work. The problem lies, in my opinion, with people willing to work them.

I am lucky enough to work dogs on occasion at a training facility in Texas, where you would find a hard time differentiating the males from the females as far as working ability. All of these dogs are raised and trained in KNPV, and the females will knock you on your ass and work just as hard as the males in ever aspect of training.

Once again we have a situation where everyone has opinions and not many are correct.

There is a mistaken opinion in this country that just because a dog has a KNPV title it is a seriously tough dog. Nothing can be further from the truth. The majority of the dogs trained in the KNPV in Holland and here are ALL PREY dogs. A prey dog (even a female prey dog) can demonstrate powerful looking work - active prey even in females is pretty impressive - But it's not fight drive.

So we come back to the same place. Females can do great drug work (My 11 year old lab worked for 8 years on our sheriff's department and was one of the best drug dogs in the state of WI while she worked) Females can make really good tracking dogs - but very very very very few females should be doing patrol work. I have females from my breeding that are working patrol dogs - in my opinion they should not be.

Micheal comments on the lack of people willing to work them,you are wrong,I would prefer to work a female but as Ed says when the chips are down,they fail.For SAR,drugs or any other search work give me a female but if my life is on the line DONT