Dogs for Defense K-9

14/11/2023

If you're still working on your holiday shopping, make sure to pop into the Malinoodle shop, home of the working dog saints. ❤️

malinoodle is an independent artist creating amazing designs for great products such as t-shirts, stickers, posters, and phone cases.

11/11/2023

IF you train with an e-collar (which should be done under the supervision of a qualified trainer to teach you how to use it correctly), buy a quality e-collar and not some cheap Amazon / Wish / Temu model.

10/11/2023

Day 3 of Pet First Aid Awareness Month.

This post is going to be about a potential injury that can happen occasionally, especially to active dogs, working dogs, gun dogs etc.

If a dog lands on a fence post or a sharp broken branch they can damage the Brachial artery which is runs through the armpit. Like humans, it's a difficult place to tourniquet so the best action is to apply pressure immediately using your fist, hands, fingers etc

As the photograph shows, a tennis ball is a great object to use to help reduce blood loss. If a ball is squeezed in the armpit, it compresses the brachial artery, stopping the blood flow. Jam it in the armpit and keep it there hard as possible until you get to the Vets. It may just reduce blood loss enough for the dog to recover.

This is an injury I have had experience with working in Veterinary Practice

https://www.facebook.com/RachelBeanVetNurse/

03/11/2023

The 2024 LVMPD K-9 Calendar is now available!
Get yours today: bit.ly/46SQg0q 🐕

23/10/2023

23/10/2023

21/10/2023

Mosaic floor depicting a dog and a knocked-over gold vessel. Discovered in 1993 during construction of the new Alexandria Library, Egypt. Now currently in the Greco-Roman Museum in Alexandria. Width: approx. 70 cm. Date: approx. 200-100 BC.

More: https://thetravelbible.com/top-ancient-egyptian-artefacts/

20/10/2023

Narcan use in dogs. Please share with your K9 handler friends.

Background Working dogs exposed to narcotics might require reversal in the field. Objective To explore the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic effects of naloxone administered intramuscularly (IM)...

20/10/2023

Anita Blair was the first guide dog handler in El Paso, Texas, when she graduated from The Seeing Eye in March 1940 with Fawn, a German shepherd. The photo is a black and white photo of Anita being guided by Fawn across a bustling city street in the early 1940s.

Just a month later, Anita and Fawn were crossing a street in El Paso when a car nearly hit her. “Fawn, the fawn-colored German shepherd, with perfect timing checked her mistress’s pace, so that the car sped past without the driver being aware that the young woman could not see,” the El Paso Times reported on April 19, 1940.

Fawn was at her side when she graduated from the Texas College of Mines and Metallurgy – now known as the University of Texas at El Paso, or UTEP – with a bachelor’s degree in 1944. She later earned a master’s degree from Texas State College for Women, now Texas Woman’s University, in Denton.

In 1946, Anita and Fawn were again in the news during a tragic fire at the 23-story Hotel LaSalle in Chicago. According to the June 6, 1946, issue of the El Paso Times, Anita was awakened by screams. “When I opened the door the smoke was so heavy I could taste it,” Anita told the newspaper. “I closed the door but did not want to get Fawn excited. Because of her I remained calm – and probably because of me she did the same.”

Fawn led Anita out the window and down the fire escape – 11 stories down – while the fire raged. Sixty-one people were killed in the fire.

In 1952, Anita became the first El Paso woman – and the first blind woman in any state – to be elected as a state representative. During her time in office, Anita fought for funding for the State School for the Deaf, teacher pay raises, and a bill that allowed women to serve on juries.

Anita returned to The Seeing Eye five more times to be matched with successor Seeing Eye dogs. Her last was Beryl, a black Labrador retriever, in 1990. Anita died in 2010 at the age of 93, and in recognition of her service as a state legislator, is buried in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.

16/10/2023

16/10/2023

Dog decided to go outside and hilariously locked himself out. The dog then rings the doorbell outside his house.

16/10/2023

The Reno Police Department has announced the passing of retired Police K9 Thor.

16/10/2023

Our friends doing great work.

From roaming the streets to serving his community, Trigger has turned his life around.

16/10/2023

A picture so good it's a shoo-in for the next Vouge Cover Photo!

Howard 'Bill' Lark & Puppy II-M821 with the 635th SPS pause to pose for a picture!

16/10/2023

“I want a Belgian Malinois to live in my high rise NYC apartment. I’ll take him on 1 walk a week, provide no mental stimulation, and post on Facebook wondering why he eats my entire apartment during the day. ”

ShopCanineAesthete.com

16/10/2023

A rescued Warwick dog may soon return the favor and help a human, thanks to his new owner.

16/10/2023

Last Saturday K9 Iro from the Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Office was shot. He was unable to undergo surgery without first receiving a blood donation. He made it through surgery and is still fighting.

Please get your pup checked to see if he or she is a universal blood donor. If that isn't possible please share the info that canine blood donors are desperately needed.

Praying K9 Iro has a full recovery 💙🙏💙

12/10/2023

From the inbox:

08/10/2023

Shoutout to the MWDs who were sniffing around during UNGA! 🐾🇺🇸

08/10/2023

THE CHOICE TO CHOOSE
WHY DOGS SHOULD BE ALLOWED CHOICE

Imagine every little detail of your life is controlled - what and when you eat, where you sleep, when you’re allowed inside or outside, when you’re allowed to go for a walk and if you’re allowed to stop and explore, who you’re allowed or forced to interact with, what activities you’re allowed to participate in, when you’re shown affection or receive attention, where you’re allowed to be touched etc.

This would create stress and anxiety, a feeling of helplessness, apathy, a lack of confidence and many other negative emotions. The same is true for dogs.

Dogs live in a world where just about everything is controlled by us. Allowing choice, no matter how simple that choice may be, provides so many benefits.

The context and parameters in which we allow choice is obviously important. Safety, boundaries, environmental factors, other people or animals always need to be taken into account.

A very long time ago, when my daughter was going through the “terrible 2’s” or maybe it was 3’s or 4’s, she would flat-out refuse to put on the set of clothes I had picked out for her.

Tantrums and stubbornness would often make us late for wherever we were going. This problem was solved by laying out 3 different sets of clothes and allowing her to choose which set she was going to wear.

These were still within my parameters and were still my choice, but by doing this I had allowed her a choice and the problem was solved, without harsh discipline or emotional fall out.

Dogs that are allowed some control over their environment and how they respond to situations are more confident, more emotionally balanced, better able to cope with stressful situations, less anxious, less stressed and have fewer behaviour problems.

Look for simple, safe ways to provide more choices for your dog. Improve their wellbeing and quality of life in a world that seeks to control them.

08/10/2023

08/10/2023

Is mounting or hu***ng a sign of dominance in dogs?

Hu***ng or mounting is a fixed action pattern (FAP), which are innate behaviours. These are behaviours that are common to all members of a species and require no learning. A Fixed Action Pattern (FAP) is a predictable series and stereotypical sequences of complex actions triggered by a cue - www.simplypsychology.org. www.sciencedirect.com.

Hu***ng or mounting is NOT:
Dominance
Controlling you or another dog
Alpha behaviour
Only seen in unsterilised dogs
Only seen in males
Only seen in younger dogs
To cause you embarrassment
To get your attention or get back at you

Hu***ng or mounting by male or female dogs of any age CAN be due to:
Excitement
Sexual rehearsal
Burning off pent up energy
General stimulation...yipp*e, something’s happening!
Stress/Anxiety/Displacement behaviour
Play
Hyperarousal
A medical issue
Boredom
Frustration
Burning of excessive energy (like zoomies)
Ambivalence about a situation or a dog
Unease
Tiredness

If you are worried:
Make a note of how many times a day this is happening.
Take your dog for a medical check up.
Contact a up to date science-based behaviour consultant to identify the triggers and the emotions to be able to develope a modification plan to improve the emotional state and hence the behaviour.
What to do in the moment - if the dog underneath seems uncomfortable and stressed then please interrupt. It may mean that the 'top dog' is unable to read the body language of the other one. Rather redirect that energy to a toy or chew as opposed to saying off. Give him something mentally stimulating to do instead. If they are having turns and alternating this behaviour with other behaviours like chasing, tumbling, play bows, etc., then leave them be.
Be careful of your dog doing it to random dogs in a park that he does not know. The unknown dog could become aggressive due to not wanting the behaviour.

Note - many Google searches for this behaviour will bring up the word dominance. The behaviour is not due to such a simplistic, misunderstood term. Dogs do it to pillows, toys or furniture - do you think that they are trying to dominate those inanimate objects? Every dog is an individual with unique emotions. The feelings and motivations for the behaviour will differ from dog to dog but it is certainly not about dominance. Don't believe everything you read on Google and check your trainer's/behaviourist's credentials. Let's not label every behaviour beyond our understanding as dominant 🙂

Most guardians rush to sterilize their dogs when this happens...it may not make a difference.

08/10/2023

08/10/2023

Submitted by a follower:
My personal dog, adopted from the shelter, 6 year old SF German shepherd who was born with an abnormally small and crooked lower jaw. Her lower canines were extracted due to them causing fistulas in the roof of her mouth. They healed nicely after extraction! She was a bit funny looking, but she was the sweetest thing! She has sadly passed, but I like to share this X-ray whenever I can!

08/10/2023

K-9 Barry served at the Lake Charles Police Department as a dual-purpose K-9 from 2012 to 2018.

08/10/2023

Last post I talked about my puppy going into a fear phase. With that, we had an interesting development. All of a sudden, pottying outside became a challenge. He was too nervous to go outside and we had a couple accidents, because of it.

Why are they doing that all of a sudden?

The quick answer?
They no longer feel safe to p*e and p**p outside. They are on edge, anxious about what is happening in their environment and will slink around, pulling back to your house, or the car, rather than relieving themselves.

Loud Noises such as loud motors, gunfire, artillery fire, thunder, helicopters or scary sights such as reacting dogs, that scary fire hydrant across the street, lightning (etc.) can all be a reason why your dog associates potty time with "something bad is going to happen". They can also chain certain events together, I'll talk about that in a different post though.

When dogs don't feel safe, often they will not drink, eat or even potty. All they can think about is "How can I get out of this situation." and go into "flight".

All we can do is to be patient, these phases can take time, but they won't last forever. You can play games at the door, to make the door a great space. Use truly high value treats. Fresh Pet, Homestyle Meatballs, Colby Jack Cheese, Chicken Breast, Bacon, Steak etc.
In the end, your puppy dictates what they think of as high value.

The best you can do is to find a quiet space for your puppy. An area that is more remote, quiet and peaceful. Where there is not much going on. A place where your puppy feels safe to go potty.

If you have a self assured older dog, recruit your older dog to go out with your puppy. This can give your puppy security and a safety net and sometimes, they just have to see "Hey, when we go outside, this is what Mom/Dad wants me to do."

Another thing you can do is to give them more space. Personally, just to go potty, I like to use a retractable leash, however, my dogs are trained to go potty on a retractable leash and know how to walk on it. To potty a puppy, a longline or a retractable leash are perfect. Just don't take them on a walk with it. You don't want your puppy to end up getting into an unfavorable encounter with another dog, while they are 10ft away from you. This is strictly for pottying purposes.

If all else fails, sometimes talking to a veterinarian about calming aids may not be the worst idea. If they have a certain age, medication can be of help. Some people have great success with Thundershirts, Calming Caps, Mutt Muffs or supplements such as Rescue Remedy, Composure (VetriScience), Virbac or Anxitane M-L Dogs etc.

As for my puppy, three days into the fear phase, we have less issues with pottying outside and the fire hydrant is no longer a fire breathing monster that wants to swallow him whole. I will continue to share our journey since it is something everyone can relate with. 🙂

08/10/2023

Today is PD Bonnie's 7th Birthday. We all hope you have a great Birthday today

03/10/2023

🤦 A normal young dog being a normal young dog and this vet has the owner convinced that neuter, rather than training, will be the fix here.

28/09/2023

28/09/2023

Monona (WI) Police partners K9 Handler/PO Hoffman and K9 Jakko keeping the highways (and streets) safe. A great team and a fun photo session!

28/09/2023

28/09/2023

K9 Ion is a two-year-old English Labrador Retriever provided by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, To***co, Fi****ms and Explosives. After ten weeks of intensive training in Virginia, K9 Ion and his handl…

28/09/2023

An abandoned dog found wandering the streets of St Mellons in Cardiff, and taken in by Cardiff Dogs Home, has become one of South Wales Police’s newest recruits. The team at the Dog’s Home work closely with South Wales Police, who spotted that the Belgian Malinois, called Sid, had all the attrib...

28/09/2023

A new Florida law that goes into effect on Sunday will invalidate Miami-Dade County’s ban on pit bulls.

30/12/2022

23/12/2022

Our favorite share every year!

Thanks to and the incredibly talented William van de Water for sharing your creativity 🫶🏼