Police dog mauls handler and is then shot dead

[Tiddlypom]

Oh heck, I wonder what on earth happened to set this off .

Wishing the injured police officer a speedy recovery.

Lancashire Police dog shot dead after mauling handler

PD Jax was shot after mauling a handler while on a search for a missing person, police say.

www.bbc.co.uk

A police dog has been shot dead by armed officers after mauling its handler while on a search for a missing person, a force has said. Lancashire Police said PD Jax, a Belgian Malinois, "became aggressive" and attacked a handler in a field off Higher Walton Road in Walton-le-Dale at about 05:15 BST.

It said the officer suffered a serious leg injury and remains in hospital.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Yeah, I have just read that. Redirection happens quite a lot in working breeds, it could have been something as simple as, the dog was mad keen for the search, the dog was held back or something got it excited, it got frustrated and head snapped around and took its frustrations out on the nearest thing, which would have been handler's leg, the fact that it is an upper leg wound would tally because that is the dog's head height, only for that I am a woman, I would have been prevented from having kids a few years ago when something similar happened (plus a very thick pair of waterproofs) when I would not let the dog go to the helper. But no actual broken skin.
Add probably the handler screaming and the hubbub of activity trying to get the dog off, increase the drive, increase the fight.

People romanticise police dogs and do the whole 'ooh, land shark' thing, but these are genetically very high prey animals who live to work and get their release through using their mouths. These dogs are generally rewarded for a successful search by a game with a ball/biteroll etc and it is the will to search for/win 'prey' that enables us to modify those very innate behaviours to make a functional service animal. Getting bitten is a risk you run when working with these breeds ('If you can't bite the one you want, bite the one you're with' is a thing...) and I am disappointed that it has ended this way.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Thanks for that comprehensive reply, CC.

Are Belgian Malinois similar to train for this as other police dog breeds, like the GSD?

 

[CorvusCorax]

There's not a huge heap of difference between a Mali and a working line GSD these days, except with the Malis, everything is generally slightly more extreme. That can be the good, like speed or nosework or grip, or the bad, like high nerve and environmental sensitivity.
As a generalisation, GSDs would be slightly more steady. Dutch herders, I would say, are a bit more stubborn and hard-headed but they are being used more. And a some of the dogs being used are a mishmash of any two of those breeds, or all three, particularly those brought from the continent.

What I will say that as with many other agencies, the style of training of both the dogs and the handlers has changed significantly over the years.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

I have met two Malinois and I have never met such an intense dog in my life. One was a pet which I thought idiotic, as nothing I have learnt about the breed indicates to me that it would make a good one.
I second finding your explanation interesting CC, I do not and will never have enough experience to work with this level of dog (and actually don't hanker for such intensity for my personal use) so it's great to learn more about them on here.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I wouldn't actually have a Mali myself, they don't do it for me.

 

[skinnydipper]

A friend had a show line and a working line Malinois. Massive difference between the two. Show line very mild mannered and working lines intense.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Yep, there's a massive difference in the lines, like with a lot of breeds.

 

[Titchy Reindeer]

I have met two Malinois and I have never met such an intense dog in my life. One was a pet which I thought idiotic, as nothing I have learnt about the breed indicates to me that it would make a good one.
I second finding your explanation interesting CC, I do not and will never have enough experience to work with this level of dog (and actually don't hanker for such intensity for my personal use) so it's great to learn more about them on here.

I love Malinois and I've met a few. Those that made me love the breed were working dogs that were also ridiculously tolerant of strangers. I think "pet" malinois fall into roughly three categories: Those that you see readvertised on free add sites between 6 and 18 months of age, those that the owners are desperately trying their best to entertain/control, and those that make everyone else want one. I have seen a few malinois about town just walking to heel (no lead!) and completely ignoring the rest of the world looking relaxed and attentive to their owner. I suspect the category the dog falls into is a much down to the owner as the dog.
I have a malinois cross though and have come to acknowledge that I only ever want one malinois in my life at a time (if ever again!). I love my dog but it's been a learning curve, even with the "watered down" version.

 

[Jenko109]

There is one in my agility class. A young bitch.

She is absolutely fabulous. Completely neutral to the other dogs, polite, terrific focus on her handler and so smart.

That said, her handler is a professional dog trainer. I think they are awesome, but too much dog for me.

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

CorvusCorax can I ask please if a would be police dog reacts in this way during training, or shows a tendency to turn on its handler would it be put down or do they attempt to re-home as not suitable for police work do you know?

I only ask as many years ago a friend rehomed a 'failed' GS from police training as it was, apparently, not suitable. Within a few months it had to be PTS as it became very aggressive with family members. I often wondered if that was the reason it failed in training. I can't imagine these days that would be allowed to happen, well hopefully not anyway!

 

[ester]

CC interesting to see your response as my immediate thought was how was a person search stressful/high octane enough to result in such a big redirection. I suspect I underestimate quite how wired they are even when ‘just’ doing searching.

 

[CorvusCorax]

CorvusCorax can I ask please if a would be police dog reacts in this way during training, or shows a tendency to turn on its handler would it be put down or do they attempt to re-home as not suitable for police work do you know?

I only ask as many years ago a friend rehomed a 'failed' GS from police training as it was, apparently, not suitable. Within a few months it had to be PTS as it became very aggressive with family members. I often wondered if that was the reason it failed in training. I can't imagine these days that would be allowed to happen, well hopefully not anyway!

I have often been told that my old male would have been an excellent service dog were it not for his propensity to redirect, which is absolutely genetic and can be flagged up in his lines, most old school police trainers wouldn't go near that type of breeding, purely because a green handler would not be able to cope with it. I, personally, can live with it because of what else he brings to the table and it just makes one a better trainer/handler but generally it is not ideal.
So I am going to give a long-winded answer here, you will be staggered to know
A dog with the balls to potentially take on an armed/aggressive assailant, will sometimes also have the balls to have a go back if the handler does something they don't like or that they feel is unfair. And in some cases, this is dangerous for both the handler (in this case, injured) and the dog (in this case, dead) and it could seriously impinge on the ability to control a public order or robbery situation if the dog is too busy hanging off it's handler than going after a criminal.
The best way to prevent this from happening in the first place is to get in the dog's head when it is very young - IE, you never, EVER lay teeth on me. This takes skill, timing, feel and the ability to maintain a good relationship with the dog.
But as a generalisation, the dog the handler will be paired with, they will not have raised it from a puppy and there may be a relationship gap there.
And it is much, much harder to correct an adult dog when all you have to hand is a large, flat link, choke chain.
As mentioned before, you also have to bring genetics into account and how the redirection happens - instant and over, there's a discussion and we go back to training, or brooding over it and getting you at the back of the van later on....
The other element is the handler - a lot of successful candidates on the courses, like with the mounted branch, have no pre-conceived training ideas that instructors have to train over the top of. That's fine. But it is really important to be able to read a dog and see when it is even thinking about redirecting and step in if possible and offer an alternative.

**This is in no way a comment on what happened in this instance, just answering your question**

 

[CorvusCorax]

CC interesting to see your response as my immediate thought was how was a person search stressful/high octane enough to result in such a big redirection. I suspect I underestimate quite how wired they are even when ‘just’ doing searching.

Mine used to bodily quiver/shake with anticipation before a track. And was just tracking for food.

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

Thanks so much for that CC, very interesting indeed.

 

[MurphysMinder]

I’ve seen the occasional news item when police dogs are controlling crowds and one will redirect , or try to .
My own shown line Gsd gets so excited when she is going to the start of a track that she screams , and she is only doing baby tracks , not the sort of work police dogs do .
Very sad end for the dog , and I’m sure the handler will be devastated.

 

[BallyRoanBaubles]

I have often been told that my old male would have been an excellent service dog were it not for his propensity to redirect, which is absolutely genetic and can be flagged up in his lines, most old school police trainers wouldn't go near that type of breeding, purely because a green handler would not be able to cope with it. I, personally, can live with it because of what else he brings to the table and it just makes one a better trainer/handler but generally it is not ideal.
So I am going to give a long-winded answer here, you will be staggered to know
A dog with the balls to potentially take on an armed/aggressive assailant, will sometimes also have the balls to have a go back if the handler does something they don't like or that they feel is unfair. And in some cases, this is dangerous for both the handler (in this case, injured) and the dog (in this case, dead) and it could seriously impinge on the ability to control a public order or robbery situation if the dog is too busy hanging off it's handler than going after a criminal.
The best way to prevent this from happening in the first place is to get in the dog's head when it is very young - IE, you never, EVER lay teeth on me. This takes skill, timing, feel and the ability to maintain a good relationship with the dog.
But as a generalisation, the dog the handler will be paired with, they will not have raised it from a puppy and there may be a relationship gap there.
And it is much, much harder to correct and adult dog when all you have to hand is a large, flat link, choke chain.
As mentioned before, you also have to bring genetics into account and how the redirection happens - instant and over, there's a discussion and we go back to training, or brooding over it and getting you at the back of the van later on....
The other element is the handler - a lot of successful candidates on the courses, like with the mounted branch, have no pre-conceived training ideas that instructors have to train over the top of. That's fine. But it is really important to be able to read a dog and see when it is even thinking about redirecting and step in if possible and offer an alternative.

**This is in no way a comment on what happened in this instance, just answering your question**

Thank you for posting this very informative and interesting

 

[scats]

My brother has a Mali. She is the loveliest dog but very intense. She’s non stop and needs constant attention. They do a lot of work with her and she’s out for a lot of long walks a day, which she needs. I love her to pieces, but I wouldn’t have one myself.

 

[Moobli]

Horrific for the poor handler. I wonder if there was a neurological disorder that suddenly presented itself such as a brain tumour or if it was a case of over-aroused/redirected aggression which is more common in working police dogs than one might think (but not often to the devastating end like this case).

A friend who recently left the police to work with dogs in a behaviour setting said this (and I think he hits the nail firmly on the head).

Seeing bodyworn footage would allow trainers and behaviourists to analyse the body language and behaviours of the dog, and the context of the incident, and then help give an accurate account of why this might have happened to prevent it happening again in the future. I appreciate the Police Officers know what they're doing when it comes to criminal matters, but there are no pre-requisites to becoming a dog handler before applying - for example the officers just have to be confirmed in rank and don't need any prior dog behaviour or training experience or qualifications (which is a questionable decision in itself and MUST be reviewed to ensure the efficiency of future working dogs), so handlers can be quite new to dog body language and behaviour and find it hard to understand why behaviours occur... I hope this incident can be reviewed by independent, qualified and experienced dog trainers and behaviourists for the sake of working dog welfare and handler safety.

 

[skinnydipper]

For Malinois lovers, for information.

Differences in Behavior and Activity Associated with a Poly(A) Expansion in the Dopamine Transporter in Belgian Malinois - PMC

In Belgian Malinois dogs, a 38-base pair variable number tandem repeat in the dopamine transporter gene (SLC6A3) is associated with behavior changes in Malinois. By additional sequencing in SLC6A3, we identified an intronic 12-nucleotide poly(A) ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

https://vgl.sf.ucdavis.edu/test/behavior-propensity-belgian-malinois

 

[CorvusCorax]

Media reporting that it's a Mali x Herder

 

[paddy555]

I haven't had time to read all the replies but this dog had apparently changed police handler. The original handler was sent to prison I "think" it was something like 5 years in jail. That may have influenced the dog. Very sad.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Thank you for posting this very informative and interesting

No worries. Obviously have had to look into it a lot myself as I have 'A Venter' myself and my old trainer was an early adopter of our fizzy Belgian friends, so there were many loooooong conversations on the subject.
For guidance, his Very Good Dog was a bit of a legend and put many bad guys in A&E, and outwardly appeared very social, but that was because he was so well drilled. No one except his handler could touch him and he was red flagged at the vet.

 

[misst]

I used to work in AE and saw a plain clothes policeman who was brought down by a police GSD - they were both chasing the same person. He was badly bitten on his upper leg buttock and arm and had to be admitted. He was not the handler and just said it was a risk because there were a lot of people around (police and criminal who was armed with a knife) and things just got out of control. He seemed to not blame the dog or the handler. I don't know what the outcome was for the dog.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I used to work in AE and saw a plain clothes policeman who was brought down by a police GSD - they were both chasing the same person. He was badly bitten on his upper leg buttock and arm and had to be admitted. He was not the handler and just said it was a risk because there were a lot of people around (police and criminal who was armed with a knife) and things just got out of control. He seemed to not blame the dog or the handler. I don't know what the outcome was for the dog.

I don't think it would be bad. I know someone who met their eventual spouse when their dog went for them instead of the same car thief they were both after. Their eyes met in triage

 

[CanteringCarrot]

I love a good Malinois. They're intelligent, sharp, and so athletic. I do not have the employment for one! They're 110%

I occasionally have a Malinois Pitbull mix that comes over to play with my Labrador and Cane Corso, and they all get along really well. She's stayed over a few nights too when her owner has been out of town. She definitely had to be watched around the cat at first, and has a tendency to let out a deafening bark when an ant farts 1 kilometer away, but she ultimately listens and can be such a cuddle bug.

I think she has a lot of untapped potential for agility and other training. She definitely requires exercise, and ball is life, life is ball.

If you have Instagram and are interested in more Malinois stuff, look up Modernmalinois (Matt Folsom).

 

[Sleighfarer]

There's not a huge heap of difference between a Mali and a working line GSD these days, except with the Malis, everything is generally slightly more extreme. That can be the good, like speed or nosework or grip, or the bad, like high nerve and environmental sensitivity.
As a generalisation, GSDs would be slightly more steady. Dutch herders, I would say, are a bit more stubborn and hard-headed but they are being used more. And a some of the dogs being used are a mishmash of any two of those breeds, or all three, particularly those brought from the continent.

What I will say that as with many other agencies, the style of training of both the dogs and the handlers has changed significantly over the years.

I'm interested in what has changed in the style of training over the years, CC, and whether you think it is for better or worse?

 

[CorvusCorax]

I'm interested in what has changed in the style of training over the years, CC, and whether you think it is for better or worse?

Again there is a combination of things.
Back in the day a GP police dog that would eat you was pretty common (I remember very vividly being roared at by a policeman when I reached out a hand to pet his dog when I was young), but as society became more litigious and paperwork got more intense/a bigger burden, those sorts of dogs in service (and sport) have become less desirable.
Then, as mentioned perhaps less 'doggy' recruits (and those in charge of making decisions) who wouldn't have the capability of controlling a very strong dog with the equipment they are allowed to use.
Modern dog training in all spheres has moved away from the old yank and crank methods. Critics would say it's now gone too far the other way (see recent press about Guide Dogs).
But a very strong dog needs to learn early on who to bite and who not to bite and you can't always get that with a biscuit - and if dogs are changing handlers frequently, things can slide.
As a result a different type of breeding and temperament of dog is more to be found in police forces now, which are more in keeping with modern training methods.
The old timers might say they're not as strong as the dogs you would have seen back in the day. But they're generally much safer.
I will repeat....the dog with a courage to take on an adversary in a stressful situation will also be strong enough to withstand stress from the handler. It will not break them to receive a tough correction. The people who think that some of these dogs can be trained with no correction whatsoever/think it is cruel, and that they can still be safe/reliable service dogs and social with everyone, are often looking for unicorns.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Duplicate post

 

[splashgirl45]

Thanks CC. All very interesting for someone whose only had sight hounds and terriers, but do love the look of the GSDs and Mali .type dogs obviously from a distance