Police dog

[2] In recent years, the Belgian Malinois has become the leading choice for police and military work due to their intense drive, focus, agility, and smaller size, though German Shepherds remain the breed most associated with law enforcement.

[3] Police dogs are used on a federal and local level for law enforcement purposes in many parts of the world.

They are often assigned to what in some nations is referred to as a K-9 Unit, with a specific handler, and must remember several verbal cues and hand gestures.

Wealth and money was then tithed in the villages for the upkeep of the parish constable's bloodhounds that were used for hunting down outlaws.

[8] By the late 14th century, bloodhounds were used in Scotland, known as "Slough dogs" – the word "Sleuth", (meaning detective) was derived from this.

The results were far from satisfactory, with one of the hounds biting the Commissioner and both dogs later running off, requiring a police search to find them.

[13] These methods soon spread to Austria-Hungary and Germany; in the latter the first scientific developments in the field took place with experiments in dog breeding and training.

By 1910, railway police forces were experimenting with other breeds such as Belgian Malinois, Labrador Retrievers, and German shepherds.

[15] Popular dog breeds used by law enforcement include the Airedale terrier, Akita, Groenendael, Tervueren, Malinois dog, Bernese Mountain Dog, Bloodhound, Border Collie, Boxer, Bouvier des Flandres, Briard, Cane Corso, Bullmastiff, Croatian Sheepdog, Doberman Pinscher, German Shepherd, German Shorthaired Pointer, Golden Retriever, Labrador Retriever, Rottweiler and English Springer Spaniel, Dogo Argentino.

Police dogs are retired if they become injured to an extent where they will not recover completely, pregnant or raising puppies, or are too old or sick to continue working.

A series of 13 linked reports found more than 150 cases from 2015 to 2020 of K-9 officers improperly using dogs as weapons to catch, bite, and injure people.

Police officers are often shielded from liability, and federal civil rights laws don't typically cover bystanders who are bitten by mistake.