In the Line of Duty

By Abigail Whitcher

Sniffing bombs, finding drugs, chasing suspects, and rescuing people.  Just another day in the life of a K9 officer in the police force.  But what happens when they go home?

There is proof of depression occurring in service canines. In an article posted just after 9/11, The Telegraph reported that while the rescue dogs were seen as a ray of sunshine while digging, more than 300 of the dogs were diagnosed by veterinarians with depression as they continued to dig and continued to find only bodies and body parts. The morale of the dogs became so bad, rescue workers would hide in the wreckage just so the dogs could dig up a living person.

In 9/11, up to 900 search and rescue dogs were deployed to help find survivors and victims of the tragedy. The last Ground Zero search dog, Bretagne, died in 2016 at age 16. Check out this link to see more about the various dogs and duties they carried out in the wake of the infamous national tragedy.

Canines have been used since World War I for duties that humans are physically incapable of performing. The most valued asset in the dogs is their heightened senses of hearing and smell. Due to these features, their original purpose was vast, including but not limited to detecting missiles, bombs, and landmines, locating wounded soldiers, killing infestations of rats in the trenches, being sentries and guards, and delivering messages and small supplies. Today’s K9 officers operate in a similar capacity with sniffing out drugs or bombs, tracking down suspects, rescuing hidden victims, and detecting incoming sounds too low or high for human ears.

But because of this heightened awareness, the animals may stand to develop a stress or anxiety disorder. Psychologists and veterinarians have even gone as far as to diagnose canine war veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. If it seems implausible, just consider that it is already widely accepted that animals should be kept inside on the Fourth of July due to the overabundance of lights and sounds brought on by the fireworks.

The inclusion of war veteran canines being included in the diagnosed column of PTSD opens the possibility of police service K9 officers also being diagnosed since the duties of a K9 officer are very similar to those of a military-served dog.

As for the ability to “turn it on and off” when K9 officers go home, Corporal Ryan Sumner of the Lenexa Police says they are not like every other dog.

“They don’t play. They have their kennel and maybe a toy, but they don’t play with children or climb on furniture [like other dogs]. And we are encouraged to not treat them that way [like other dogs],” Sumner said. Sumner is a veteran K9 handler. He currently works with K9 Ram and was formerly partnered with K9 Diesel for eight years before Diesel’s retirement in 2015.

Speaking of dogs and handlers, no two departments do training the same way. Lenexa trains their dogs on-duty and during calls. Shawnee takes all three of their dogs to a secondary location for all-day training every Wednesday. Kansas City trains in an onsite facility. Lawrence sends their handlers and dogs to work together for ten weeks in a camp in Topeka before taking the dogs out on patrol.

And for a job well done, K9 officers are often awarded with a chew toy or treat.

In an article about the K9 officers on the Lawrence police force, the Lawrence Journal-World quotes Lawrence Police Patrol Division Captain Anthony Brixius as saying “Officers are cautioned not to playfully shove the handlers when the PSDs [Police Service Dogs] are around…because the dogs are trained to protect their handlers.”

In a study on police dogs, Sandy Bryson explains that police dogs are chosen very carefully due to a balanced need for qualities in “social, play, search and aggression behavior as well as physical health.”

Breeds like Belgian Malinois and German Shepherd are known for aggressiveness, which excel in the crime-ridding drive of police forces, but that also brings about the question of how the specific trait translates to stress or retirement. In the conditions of the former, and considering the proposed parallels between human and canine behavior, if a human response to stress is to lash out or break down, despite the amount of conditioning or training he may have, what kind of reaction would a canine have? It is not like there is a Therapy for Dogs.

As mentioned, the most common types of police dogs seen are breeds like Belgian Malinois and German Shepherd due to their natural aggressiveness. But there are other breeds of dogs as well. Labrador Retrievers are used by police forces for their bomb-sniffing and arson-detecting abilities. Other breeds of K9 officers include Boxers, Rottweilers, and Bloodhounds.

To expand on PTSD, everyone in today’s society knows different bits about it and can be diagnosed to war veterans, survivors of violence, or anyone who has experienced traumatic circumstances, among others. A lot of times, those diagnosed can get a service animal to help them. The presence of animals is psychologically proven to help release natural oxytocin which helps calm or ground people with anxiety or depression, detect triggers in people with PTSD or medical disorders, and assist people with disabilities, among other duties. But there is not necessarily a service animal for animals with PTSD.

While there are still a lot of mysteries about the psyche and how it works, both with human and animal, there is one side to the story that looks up. As technology advances and the human race learns, maybe there will one day be a way to understand and help our K9 officers.

To find out more about PTSD, check out The Background of Shell Shock.