Poor Pit Bulls don’t have the best reputation. They’re often written off as mean and aggressive, but we’ve seen time and time again that they can be kindhearted, selfless souls.
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But just because we’ve heard stories about them being sweet, does that make them up to the task of being working dogs? One of the biggest responsibilities a dog can have is to work with police in their K9 unit as a Detection Dog. It seems unlikely that this intimidating breed would make the cut, right? Expert Brad Droft– founder of Universal K9, a police dog training organization– disagrees. And he recently teamed up with an Austin, Texas animal shelter to bring Pits to the force.
Animal Farm Foundation
An organization called Animal Farm Foundation is in on the collaboration as well. According to their site, it is there mission that “rescued and sheltered ‘pit bull’ dogs are “considered for Detection Dog work, which is traditionally reserved for pure bred, purpose bred dogs.”
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It all started when Brad was told to go out and find more dogs. “The ones I chose were all ‘pit bull’ dogs. It can be challenging to place dogs that are labeled as ‘pit bulls’ or ‘pit bull mixes,’ because of misconceptions and prejudices, but I was able to find a couple of police departments early on that were open minded and I was able to place the dogs.”
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The dogs go through a rigorous training program. If they don’t pass through to become K9 officers, they’ll oftentimes end up getting adopted by officers
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In training, Pit Bulls learn to detect explosives and narcotics, and even to detect arson and find cadavers.
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Since Brad has brought Pit Bulls on to the force, police officers have been surprised to find that Pits are easily trained.
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They make excellent police dogs, just like the Labs and German Shepherds who traditionally serve in that role!
According to Brad, “Any dog that has the drive, confidence, and desire to work can do it! Breed does not dictate a dog’s ability to work.”
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