Tag: dogs at work

Dogs at Work: Boxers

Posted on March 31, 2022 - 2:30 pm by
Taste of the Wild

Known as lovable, affectionate, intelligent, and sometimes goofy, Boxers are bright and possess a good work ethic. Their alert expression and athletic frame allows them to move smoothly and gracefully, just like the athletes whose occupation they share their name with, and—just like Muhammed Ali or Sugar Ray Leonard—they defend their families and their titles fearlessly.

Boxers and their close cousins, the bulldog and mastiff, trace their roots back to the Assyria, an ancient civilization in the Middle East. As long ago as 2000 B.C., ancestors of the boxer were used in warfare and hunting deer, wild boar and even bears. The breed was most pronounced throughout Europe and England and has been depicted in Flemish tapestries dating from the 1500s.

But it was in Germany where the boxer became the breed we know and love today. Initially known as the Bullenbeisser, the breed was part of noble German estates and became the butcher and cattle dealer’s dog. It was also in Germany where the boxer was first selected for police training, further ensuring the breed’s place as one of the ultimate working dogs.

Despite their ancient pedigree, boxers are relative newcomers to the U.S., having only been introduced at the turn of the century. Officially recognized by the American Kennel Club (AKC) in 1904 in the Working Dog class, they have excelled in dog show rings including the Westminster Kennel Club show in New York, where they have won more than two dozen group wins and the overall grand prize title four times. Now, the AKC marks the breed as the 14th most popular in the country, and they’re known for their unparalleled affection for their families and children.

Early socialization with people and puppies is essential to channel the boxer’s curiosity and energy. They are highly trainable, but often get bored with repetition, so they’re excellent at a broad range of canine activities including agility, dock diving, obedience and even herding. They also excel at being service dogs, and their imposing frames and alert expressions make them exceptional drug detection and search-and-rescue dogs.

And, they’re well-choreographed.

Most boxer owners will tell you about the “kidney bean” dance boxers do—a wild contortion where they excitedly twist their bodies into a semicircle and start turning circles, the wild ballet outward proof of their unequaled status as lovers, not fighters. Whether your boxer is a working dog defending their titles in the show ring, or dancing for the family, they’ll show you why they’re one of America’s favorite dog breeds.

An interior graphic detailing five fun facts about boxers.

Dogs at Work: The High-Velocity Vizsla Hunting Drive

Posted on February 24, 2022 - 3:30 pm by
Taste of the Wild

Vizslas are fierce hunting companions with roots at least a millennium deep.

Marauding Magyar warriors from Russia rode on horseback across Western Europe in the 800s, with their powerful, copper-colored dogs leaping beside them. The conquerors eventually settled in Hungary, where they became herdsmen and hunters.

Stone carvings in the Carpathian Mountains, estimated to be about 1,000 years old, depict the fierce hunter with his falcon and dog, which eventually became today’s vizsla. These canine ancestors worked in tandem with falcons, flushing birds so the sharp-taloned hunters could snatch the prey and bring it to earth.

Known as the “yellow pointer” in the 1200s, the dogs eventually became the “Hungarian pointer” and finally the “vizsla” in the 16th century. A studbook from the 1700s lists a breeding history of the “golden vizsla.”

With a seemingly endless supply of energy, vizslas caught the eye of the aristocracy in the region. Eventually, they became known as the “gift of kings,” and pups from special breedings were reserved for royalty in the Greater Hungarian Kingdom, which spread across Hungary and Czechoslovakia before World War I. It is said that vizsla pups were gifted to Princess Iolanda di Savia from Italy, as well as to other queens of Italy and Spain.

Much like German shorthaired pointers, vizslas are renowned hunters, skilled at both pointing and retrieving. They have been used to hunt everything from pheasants, partridges, geese and ducks to rabbits, deer, boars and even bears and wolves. Their eyes and noses are also reddish-brown, blending in with their coat color and making it easy for them to be camouflaged in brush while hunting.

A U.S. State Department employee is said to have helped smuggle a vizsla out of communist Hungary and into the United States in 1950. The breed was recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1960.

Today, vizslas still serve as high-energy hunters and family companions, but they also work as guide dogs as well as in search and rescue and drug detection.

An interior graphic detailing seven fun facts about vizslas.

Dogs at Work: Samoyeds Kept the Cold and Wolves at Bay

Posted on December 30, 2021 - 3:30 pm by
Taste of the Wild

According to legend, the phrase “three dog night” describes a night so frigid that early hunter-gatherer people needed three dogs to sleep with them to stave off the cold.

Although where the phrase originated is unclear, it could very easily have originated with the semi-nomadic Samoyed people of Siberia and their namesake Samoyed dogs. In a region where the temperatures can drop to minus 60 degrees Fahrenheit and lower, those thick-coated dogs snuggled in to keep plenty of families toasty warm at night.

Subsisting on hunting and fishing, the Samoyed people depended on their strong dogs to herd reindeer, hunt for bear, fight off wolves, haul sledges and even tow fishing boats. The dogs’ exemplary work ethic, in freezing temperatures, attracted the attention of Arctic and Antarctic explorers.

Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen took a team of Samoyeds on his 1893 expedition to the North Pole. The breed was also tapped to lead explorers such as Amundsen and Shackleton to the South Pole. The conditions were extremely harsh, and some dogs didn’t make it home.

In 1906, a dog named Moustan of Argenteau became the first Samoyed registered to the American Kennel Club. The dog came from St. Petersburg, Russia, and was originally owned by Grand Duke Nicholas, a brother of the Czar. Today, Samoyeds compete in obedience and agility events and can still be found herding sheep and cattle.

An interior graphic detailing seven fun facts about Samoyeds.

Dogs at Work: Siberian Huskies

Posted on November 4, 2021 - 2:30 pm by
Taste of the Wild

Huskies originated in northern Siberia, one of the coldest and most inhospitable regions of the world.

There, they served as sled dogs and companions for the Chukchi people, carrying food and supplies between inland settlements. Over time, these semi-nomadic people were forced to extend their hunting territory to the sea. Thankfully, their huskies were uniquely capable to tow sleds laden with walrus meat over long distances in snow and arctic temperatures.

In the early 1900s, a Russian trader by the name of William Goosak brought Siberian huskies to Nome, Alaska, to help carry precious cargo during the Gold Rush. The dogs became famous for their sledding capabilities, especially after winning long-distance races such as the All-Alaska Sweepstakes.

The event that really put huskies on the map occurred in 1925, when a husky named Balto led a team of sled dogs more than 650 miles to Nome, Alaska, to carry lifesaving antitoxin for children suffering from an outbreak of diphtheria. Owned by the famous musher Leonhard Seppala, Balto is memorialized with a statue in New York City’s Central Park.

An interior graphic detailing six fun facts about Siberian huskies.

The Great Dane, Once a Fierce Wild Boar Hunter

Posted on October 14, 2021 - 2:30 pm by
Taste of the Wild

Although you might assume Great Danes originated in Denmark, the breed traces its origins to Germany.

Centuries ago, German nobility bred this giant breed to hunt and kill wild boars. To create a powerful hunter, they combined the height of the Irish wolfhound, the speed of the greyhound and the muscular brawn of the English mastiff.

The result was a swift and ferocious dog, the sheer size of which made thieves think twice before approaching a carriage or stepping foot onto an estate. Over time, the noblemen began to call them Kammerhunde, or chamber dogs, and dressed them in velvet-lined collars as a reward for their protection and companionship.

As boar hunting became less popular, selective breeding was used to transform the hunting dogs of the past into the gentle giants they eventually became.

In 1880, the Germans banned the name “Great Dane” and called the breed “Deutsche dog” or “German dog,” at the same time founding the Deutsche Doggen Club of Germany. Some English-speaking countries still tend to call the breed by its original name.

Today, the breed is generally seen as a companion pet, but their typically gentle demeanor makes them perfect for work as a therapy or service dog. Surprisingly, Danes can excel in agility, weight pulling, tracking and obedience.

An interior graphic detailing seven fun facts about Great Danes.

Dogs at Work: Border Collies

Posted on September 23, 2021 - 2:30 pm by
Taste of the Wild

Even the most high-powered batteries can’t deliver nonstop energy like the border collie. Bred to drive sheep herds, borders are determined to herd anything on hand, even if it means corralling your kids in the backyard. While technically not considered a working breed, they’re arguably the workaholics of the herding dog category.

Although sheepherding jobs may be in short supply in the United States, border collies are happy to give their all to jobs such as search and rescue, narcotics and bomb detection, or service work for the vision or hearing impaired. They have also been known to take home blue ribbons in agility, flyball, freestyle, obedience, and other competitions.

That boundless energy is matched with a keen intellect. In the book, The Intelligence of Dogs, psychology professor Stanley Coren surveyed 200 dog-obedience judges across North America, and the border collie earned number-one ranking for smarts.

The History of Border Collies

Centuries ago, Roman raiders invaded Britain, bringing livestock and large herding dogs with them. Years later, Vikings did the same, only their dogs were smaller and faster. When the two types of herding dogs were crossed, the result was a compact, high-energy dog perfect for herding sheep across the hilly terrain of Scotland.

The Scottish word for a sheepdog is “collie,” which initially described a broad range of herding dogs. Queen Victoria is said to have taken a keen interest in the dogs when she witnessed them at Balmoral Castle, and they became popular with the royal set.

Soon, dog shows became the rage, and sheepdogs from all over Britain were entered. Eventually, competitors found it difficult to breed for both show and working qualities. At the dawn of the twentieth century, the show line became a breed of its own, the collie, while the working line became the border collie. Some suggest the name comes from the fact that the breed originated in the Scottish Borders. The border collie was admitted into the American Kennel Club (AKC) Herding Group in 1995.

An interior graphic detailing seven fun facts about border collies.

Dogs at Work: Portuguese Water Dogs

Posted on August 5, 2021 - 2:30 pm by
Taste of the Wild

Most people in the United States know of the Portuguese water dog (PWD) breed thanks to Bo and Sunny, the happy-go-lucky residents of the White House during the Obama administration. But long before that, they had a reputation as valuable crew members aboard Portuguese fishing vessels.

History of the PWD

No one is sure how Portie ancestors were first brought to Portugal. Some believe the Berbers, people from a Roman province in North Africa, sailed into port with the dogs on board. Others conjecture that the Goths, Germanic people of the Balkan area, first brought the dogs to shore.

Once in Portugal, fishermen recognized the value of the dogs and were quick to employ them on their ships. Since Porties have waterproof coats, webbed paws and are excellent swimmers, they were used to recover nets and tackle that fell overboard, drive fish into nets, swim messages from ship to shore or ship to ship and even guard the day’s catch once the ship was docked for the night. Retired fishermen were known to rent their dogs to pocket a little extra income.

As the fishing industry made use of new technologies, there was a less of a need for PWDs, and by the 1930s, their numbers had dwindled. Thankfully, a wealthy shipping magnate by the name of Vasco Bensaude started a breeding program to preserve the dogs.

Portuguese water dogs were first brought to the United States in 1958, and the American Kennel Club recognized them as part of the working dog group in 1984.  Today, Porties can be found diving into pools and running through sprinklers as family pets.  They have a reputation for being good with children, easy to train and eager to please.  It’s no surprise that the breed excels at water trials, but they can also be good at obedience and agility or as service or therapy dogs. A PWD named Dutch worked rescue and recovery at the World Trade Center site after 9/11.

An interior graphic detailing six fun facts about Portuguese water dogs.

Behind the Breed: Bernese Mountain Dogs

Posted on June 3, 2021 - 2:30 pm by
Infographic of fun facts about Bernese mountain dogs

Bernese mountain dogs, affectionately called “Berners,” are named after the central region of Switzerland where they originated: the canton of Bern.

Ancestors of the Berner appeared in Switzerland more than 2,000 years ago, when Roman soldiers invaded the area, bringing with them tall, mastiff-like dogs with broad chests and muscled legs, which made them ideal for hauling carts. When crossed with the existing Swiss mountain dogs, it resulted in a strong breed that could thrive in the Alpine weather.

Over the years, these sturdy dogs did a wide range of jobs on the farm, from herding cows and pulling carts of cheese and milk to serving as watchdogs and farmer’s companions.

By the late 1800s, the numbers of Berners dwindled, partially because of the popularity of the Saint Bernard. But in 1892, an innkeeper named Franz Schertenleib rekindled interest in Swiss mountain dogs by selecting ideal examples for use as breeding stock.

He eventually showed two dogs to Professor Albert Heim, an expert on Swiss mountain dogs, who immediately recognized them as ancestors of the large mountain dogs that used to work farms across Europe. Heim worked with breeders to revitalize the breed, and the Bernese mountain dog was officially recognized in Europe in 1912.

In 1926, a Kansas farmer imported two Berners to the U.S. for use as farm dogs. The breed quickly gained popularity, and the American Kennel Club registered the first Bernese mountain dog in 1937 as a member of the Working Group.

Today, this strong breed often takes home trophies in agility, herding, tracking, rally and even drafting, which is a competition in which dogs pull carts. These gentle giants typically have a sweet and patient temperament, making them excellent therapy dogs, as well.

An interior graphic detailing six fun facts about Bernese mountain dogs.

Dogs at Work: K9 Cops

Posted on March 25, 2021 - 3:00 pm by
Taste of the Wild

One of the most famous police dogs in Canadian history, Cloud II helped his handler capture 123 fugitives as well as numerous lost children and hunters. After a career of just four years, the German Shepherd lost his life in the line of duty after tracking a fugitive to a remote cabin in Ontario.

As part of the NYPD, Appollo was a first responder at the World Trade Center. The German Shepherd tirelessly searched the smoking wreckage for survivors and victims, eventually earning the Dickin Medal, the highest honor bestowed on animals for gallantry or devotion to duty.

As a member of the Connecticut State Police, Mattie was the first working accelerant-detection dog in the United States. Trained to detect evidence of arson, the Labrador Retriever could identify 17 different accelerants and even sniff out suspects observing the aftermath of a fire.

These are just a few of the police dogs who are specially trained to patrol the streets, help with search and rescue or use their powerful noses to track down drugs, explosives or other vital evidence.

To protect and serve

Day after day, police dogs risk their lives to work in dangerous situations and help protect their handlers from harm. As you can imagine, this takes an inordinate amount of training. Teaching a dog the intricacies of patrol work, urban tracking and detection can cost between $12,000 and $15,000, according to the National Police Dog Foundation. Most police departments simply don’t have the budget for this kind of expense and rely on donations from private citizens and corporations.

Trainers generally start with puppies that are specially bred for the job. The most common dogs used are herding breeds such as German Shepherds, Belgian Malinois and Dutch Shepherds because they are intelligent, physically strong, and have a strong prey drive. (It doesn’t hurt that they can have a menacing demeanor.)

Training starts early with basic obedience, and dogs learn to focus in public and ignore distractions. General training can take about 8 months or longer, when they’re teamed with a handler for as long as six months or more of additional training. Most handlers keep training dogs on a regular basis and complete annual certification.

Single or dual purpose

Single-purpose police dogs are generally used for patrol duties, which can include officer protection, suspect apprehension, area or building clearance and security. In some cases, dogs may be used only for tracking purposes, such as locating missing people.

Dual-purpose canines are trained to perform patrol duties plus certain kinds of detection, whiffing out scents such as narcotics, explosives or other evidence that may be easy to miss with the human eye.

When off duty, police dogs generally live with their handlers as part of the family. Depending on their health, K9 cops can serve anywhere from 6 to 10 years before retiring to a life of heroic leisure.

Helping Solve Digital Crimes: Electronic Storage Detection Dogs

Posted on February 25, 2021 - 3:48 pm by
Taste of the Wild

With the constant miniaturization of electronics, digital information can now be stored on a microSD card the size of a fingernail. Which makes it almost impossible for detectives to find when searching through a cluttered house or storage locker.

Enter electronic storage detection (ESD) dogs. It’s a new breed of service dog trained to sniff out cell phones, thumb drives, hard drives, computers and tablets, no matter how tiny they are.

More and more, ESD dogs are used across the country for cases such as political or corporate espionage, fraud, terrorism and other crimes. They can even sniff out hidden cameras in office buildings or the homes of CEOs, designed to pick up competitive intelligence. Nothing is safe from the finely honed nose of an ESD dog.

Training to pinpoint the scent

The idea for training Electronic Storage Detection (ESD) dogs began in 2012 as a joint effort among the Connecticut State Police computer crimes unit, their canine unit, and the forensic lab.

A chemist in the laboratory was able to isolate triphenylphosphine oxide (TPPO), a compound used to coat circuit boards in storage devices to prevent overheating. The canine unit started training dogs to recognize pure TPPO in a jar. Once the dogs imprinted on the scent, the trainers used smaller and smaller amounts of TPPO, hiding it in various areas for the dogs to find.

When a dog finds the scent, it’s trained to alert the handler by sitting down and pointing its nose toward the object. Successful dogs are rewarded with food.

In some cases, dogs may be trained to find another chemical, hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl ketone (HPK), a compound typically found on storage media such as CDs, DVDs and floppy disks.

While there are other ESD dog training services around the country, the Connecticut program generally requires about five weeks to imprint the dogs to the scent and six weeks to train dogs with their handlers as a team.

A job made for Labrador retrievers

To date, the vast majority of ESD dogs belong to a single breed: Labrador retrievers.

The breed’s easygoing temperament makes them ideal to search in areas crowded with people, without getting nervous or distracted. The dogs are also typically high energy, often food motivated, and have an insatiable drive to please people. For these dogs, a methodical search through a suspect’s house is generally all fun and games.

Training is ongoing

A properly trained ESD dog can find thumb drives, even when they’re disguised as lighters or cufflinks. They can track down a computer, when it’s turned off. Even when dogs nose out hard drives that have been erased, forensic specialists may be able to recover valuable files that have been deleted.

Of course, training doesn’t stop once they’ve successfully completed the program. Handlers need to continue putting dogs to the test to keep their training fresh. Even so, it’s not all hard work and no play. Dogs get to go home with their handlers, where there’s plenty of time for belly rubs and snoozes on the couch.