<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> Milt

The subject of rescue dogs for PSD is a very interesting one,in the UK all police dogs are donated or from rescue and I have not seen one that would match up to a US dog which was bought in for a specific purpose.Over here the value of PSDs is not rated very high,we have a lot to learn.
I have used many rescue Rotts for Protection and other purposes and donated two for police use but they are the few of many and it does not make sense to spend days searching rescues for good working stock,if the rescues have the ability to screen out the dogs,then it may be different.
Paul

Ikor thanks for your response, I appreciate it. The issue of what the cost is to train the dog is of no concern to me, that would be the adopting agencies issue, not mine.

David Frost - I found your post interesting too: "Many of our working dogs are single purpose; drug, explosives, cadaver etc. 15 of the last 20 dogs I've put on the street were rescues from local shelters. In addition, I have rescued 4 Malanois that were purchased by people because they were cute puppies. That puppy however grew into a full sized dog( who knew). 2 are excellent drug dogs, and 2 are excellent explosives detectors. With effort and diligence, good dogs are out there to be found, but you have to be willing to look at and turn down a lot more than you will ever select."

If as was posted, mediocrity and incompetence in k9work is commonplace, I am not sure why this is a difficult issue.

As I said before, I was contacted recently by police in my area, and have been thinking about this recently. As I have also posted it clearly happens alot more than any of you had thought. I am curious as I do not know the crows here, how many are k9 police officers, and how many have evaluated shelter dogs, and how many deal exclusively with k9s, and only have all purpose dogs, in order to come to the conclusions posted.

I see my earlier question was not answered,

"Does anyone know what the percentages are of dogs that do all phases, versus one particular area, for all dogs? (not just rescues?)"

Hey Laureen, I know of one PSD in Ontario that came from a shelter: Prince... Rick Fackrell's white GSD. I think he was in the Toronto area. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Thanks Heather - I will look into that. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

A white GSD that does police work is a rare find indeed... this dog was born WAYYYY back in 1971... before there was so much seperation in working, pet, show lines.

The breeder and parents of this dog are listed in the link below... I didn't see anything about the dog originating from a shelter... If this was truly a "shelter dog" how would they know the breeder/parent info?

http://www.whitegermanshepherd.org/princehof.htm

 Quote:

Originally posted by Dave Lilley:
A white GSD that does police work is a rare find indeed... this dog was born WAYYYY back in 1971... before there was so much seperation in working, pet, show lines.

OK, I found Conan's info:

VE-LINS KAISER THE ROLE
Sept 8 1988 AKC D782065
A.K.A. K9 Conan

Breeder and Owner: Linda Gan of Ve-Lin Shepherds
Handler and Lifetime partner P.O. Ed Meyers.
Sire: Hoof Print Midnight Too, OVC (Breeder: J. Service. Owners: J. Chanyi & Linda Gan)
Dam: Hoof Print Heidi RXO OP OFA (Breeder: J. Chanyi. Owner: Linda Gan)

Graduated K 9 school 6/15/90
Competed Explosive Detection Training 11/16/90
USPCA-P.D.I. 1992 to 1997.

NAPWDA certified, explosive Detection Team, "The Bomb Squad" with lifetime partner P.O. Ed Meyers. Conan retired from active service with the Metropolitan P.D. St. Louis MO. in May 1998.

Hi Heather,
I don't think anyone is disputing that it has not happened, or will not happen again. It's just sooooooo rare that it's almost not worth considering other than a happy story of a dog in a poor situation that has gone on to do great things. Like I said before, I know a guy who has a VW Bug that can do the 1/4 mile in under 10 seconds....it's still a VW Bug right...just how many do you know that can do it? Even if you can find 100 dogs that have come from pounds and gone to do PSD work, it would be such a small % that it just doesn't make much of a impact. I'm all for it if you can find it, but again, many of the "purchased" PSDs I have seen across the country need work, and some that sould not be working at all. Many sold from imports or breeders who belive if it hits a sleeve it's a PSD. It's hard enough to find REALLY good dogs even in Europe, never mind the local pound.