just wanted to clear the water... - Page 1

I have a friend who thinks that great danes can be police dogs because there is one that she knows of...
Any opinions about this or anyone ealse know of a great dane that is a police dogs... she is trying to convince me the great danes are better...lol

Try to get one over a fence sometime...lol


P.S.
In all honesty I don't think they have the courage.

Or in the trunk of a car, or the engine compartment,  or under the seat or dash to search for dope. 

There may be the odd one or two that have the temperament for it.  As a whole I can see some big drawbacks, large dogs are not as agile, don't live as long hence career would be very short.  Many of my friends have Great Danes and I like the breed, they wouldn't be on my list for a Police dog though. 

Jim

That thought may not be so far-fetched as far as the origin of the breed is concerned. The Great Dane breed was created in Germany as the Deutsches Mastiff and bred to help with the capture and killing of wild boars. Now; why it is called a "Great Dane" is far beyond me, but that's the way it is.

As far as performing any serious police or reconnaisance work - I agree that the Great Dane is at a tremendous disadvantage due to its great size. I have not been around these dogs save for a few present at all-breed shows. They are certainly regal in appearance and look quite capable; but I think any serious working abilities disappeared long ago.

Best Regards,
Bob-O

I have seen someone doe protection work with a Dane but I can't see them being a police dog. They don't have the agility or the speed.They might cover the ground in a longer stride and scare the crap out of someone if they looked back and saw a black Dane with it's huge jowles flaring up and it's teeth showing....but to stuff it in the back of a squad.....I just don't see that happening. Jim could you imagine having a Dane as your K-9 partner? You would have to have a van!! I haven't seen that many that have the right temperament for the job either.
I found a  stray Dane that was on the small side, and I have a Tahoe,it's ass was in the back and it's front was in the front seet with it's head out the window!!

You want me to be a Cop??????    Daughter's GD Puppy.

I worked at a kennel in the 80's and the owner bred Danes so I became very familiar with the breed.  No way are they capable IMHO.  The don't have the stamina, drive, switch, precision or brains.  They are intimidating because of their sheer size but just don't have what it takes.  They are huge lap dogs, not what they started out to be.  I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule but they would be just that, exceptions.

Lav,
No thanks!  I have enough trouble putting an 85 lb GSD over a 6' fence, never mind a 140 lb Great Dane.  I prefer my Crown Vic, you can't get into pursuits in a van, so the van is out of the question.

Jim

It is a common misconception of people who don't work their dogs that Police Dogs are simply biting machines and the bigger and more intimidating the better and are convinced that donating their nervous biter would put their local Police force on the map for arrests.  One of my boarding customers has huge Boerboels and cannot understand why the police in UK would use GSD and Malis when they could have Boerboels, despite the fact his male is out of breath after a couple of laps of his garden, has less drive than a Fiat 500 and couldn't find his dinner in the kitchen, let alone track anyone.

Margaret N-J

At one of the local Sch clubs there's a woman who comes with her great dane. I think he's got his Sch1 at this point, but she said the biggest trouble is that he had such a gentle bite, barely holding the sleeve at all with his lips because he didn't want to hurt the decoy. Such a sweet beast he is. 


I think insofar as the intimidation factor a dane would be a very impressive police dog, but something like a bullmastiff, dogge de bordeaux that isn't as gentle would probably be a much more realistic choice. That, and fitting a dane into a cop car *lol* when he packs into her Honda the entire back seat is full of dog. I'm not sure how quickly a dane could extricate himself from anything smaller than an SUV if deployed for a rapid pursuit of a suspect fleeing on foot.