Do the police use any rotts/bull breeds at all?

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Ranyhyn

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I may have misunderstood my local rescue when I went to walk dogs there, but when chosing dogs he gestured he away from some bull types and a rottweiler, saying

"Not those, we look after these for the police"

Was he inferring they were dogs on death row for DDA OR that they were to be used BY the police?

ANyone know?

Kitty
 
I know the UK police only use Labs, Spaniel type breeds, and German Shepherds. However, I do know that other country forces use them breeds of dog.
 
Warwickshire police has used in the past both Rotts and a Russian Black Terrier as 'take out' dogs as opposed to bog standard police dogs; John Ward had the RBT about six/seven years ago as an experiment......dunno if it was a one-off or if they continued with them.

Also, not a rescue, but a local kennels boards police dogs at times when handlers on vacation.....maybe that explains?
 
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Probably DDA or impending court cases i would think. As far as I know the police restrict themselves to slopey backed cripples and mad spangles mostly :D
 
I know the army had a few rotts for guard duty some years ago and there was one that was a police dog (he got an award for something :) ) up north.

Sadly, I think your second thought is probably right - they are either poundies or 'under investigation'.
 
:( There was a lovely soulful, bowlegged american bull cross - looky likey who looked very sad.

They had names, thats all that made me hope they weren't death row doggies :(
 
Whilst I can't be certain of this, I would think that the bulk of the UK police forces will find everything that they want in the GSD.

Rotts have always been a dog for the specialist, in my opinion. The average UK Police Dog Handler, isn't a specialist. The odd one or two may be, but that's about it.

A first class Rott, is as good as you will get. Sadly, there aren't many of them, and even less who have the required knowledge.

Alec.
 
The majority of dogs being used are GSDs, Malinois and then the spangles, labs etc for detection.

There are a couple of American Bulldogs working in Schutzhund in the UK.

From what I have seen, Rotts and Dobes are a bit more independent minded than GSDs and Mals and that is perhaps why they don't have the same representation in the forces.

See it myself in the most basic obedience test, halfway through, the Dobe or the Rott will say 'sod this, I'm bored, I'm orf! Stuff the ball' while the GSDs and Malis are still looking up at the handler, asking 'do you still have the ball? Is the ball in your pocket? Are we gonna play ball?' even though the ball is in the van in the car park :p

The RBTs are simply amazing to watch and I would not want to meet one on a dark night!
 
Guys the case regarding LL is ongoing, there are legal implications, in the best interests of the dogs, and I mean, if you care about the welfare of the dogs, it's best to leave it in the hands of those involved and I am sure there will be an update in due course x
 
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