A police dog, often referred to as a "K-9"—a homophone of canine, is a dog that is trained specifically to assist police and other law-enforcement personnel in their work.

One of the judges who participated in the Region 1 Field Trial competition in Gulf Shores Feb. 20-24, explained that, “The most commonly used breed is, of course, the German Shepherd, although now they are seeing several other breeds becoming more popular dogs to use.”

Some breeds are used to enforce public order by chasing and holding suspects, or detaining suspects by the threat of being released, either by direct apprehension or a method known as Bark and Hold. German Shepherd Dogs and Belgian Malinois are most commonly used because of their availability.

Ron Parker, a K-9 judge, said that, “The United States Police Canine Association became the largest and oldest active organization of its kind—‘Ever Striving for the Betterment of all Police K-9,’ in August, 1971, when two existing associations, the Police K-9 Association and the United States K-9 Association, merged.”

The original Florida Police K-9 Association, formed in 1964, was later changed to the Police K-9 Association in order to include other interested departments outside the section of the country established by the United Police K-9 Association.

It didn't take long before the members of these two organizations realized that strength was in unity and that their basic goals and objectives were the same. So the present Association was formed. Membership is spreading throughout the United States, Canada, and with the Armed Forces, throughout the world.

With Associations such as this, police dogs and officers have strict guidelines to help them strive for the best possible performance.

“Every single K-9 has to go through the re-certification process each year with no exceptions,” Parker explained. “The competitions are held all over the country and the actual location is determined by an offer to host the event.” “This year it was Gulf Shores. These dog trials bring together the best trained dogs in the world and are judged by Police judges. Great strides in the standardization of training methods have been made through these dog trials.”

According to the United States Police Canine Association official roaster for the Gulf Shores PDI and Detector Trials, all together there were 51 K-9 entries. The City of Gulf Shores entered 4, Fairhope 2, Air Force 1, Plant City Police Department 3, Pensacola Police Department 6, City of Miami 5, Thomasville 3, Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Department 4, Escambia County Sheriff’s Department 4, Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Department 6, Lake County Sheriff’s Department 2, Northport Police Department 2 and Lakeland Police Department had the highest number of entries with 8 competitors.

These beautiful animals were amazing to watch as they competed in the obedience and agility-trials held at the Sports Plex on Baldwin County 6.

There were 14 police K-9 judges and one chief judge in—they were split on Tuesday as some judged the obedience while others judged the agility of the participants.

The obstacle course was set up in an open field just across from the stadium; this is where the obedience portion was conducted. With 51 total participants involved, the trials lasted the majority of the day.

Each officer was given a number to wear for the competition. “Quiet” was the key word as the K-9’s were required to stay extremely focused while waiting for their number to be called. Some owners choose to rehearse in other areas of the Sports Plex while waiting. Others simply sat with their dogs while studying the obstacle course, learning from the performances of the others.

The loving relationship between the owners and their highly skilled K-9 became obvious after a short observance.

Parker explained that, “While at home, these highly trained animals are the family pet and that they are given lots of love, but they also know when duty calls, and they are ready to defend and protect!”

In digging a little deeper, it seems the police dogs truly become part of their departments, mostly to the extent of their human counterparts.

An officer from The City of Miami explained that, “In many jurisdictions the intentional injuring or killing of a police dog is a felony, subjecting the perpetrator to harsher penalties than those in the statutes embodied in local animal cruelty laws, just as an assault on a human police officer is often a more serious offense than the same assault on a non-officer. A growing number of law-enforcement organizations outfit dogs with ballistic vests, and some make the dogs sworn officers, with their own police badges and IDs. Furthermore, a police dog killed in the line of duty is often given a full police funeral.”

An officer from the Pensacola Police Department added a bit more.

“Police dogs are retired if they become injured to an extent where they will not recover completely, become pregnant, or are too old or sick to continue working, so they are retired for medical reasons,” he said. “The City of Orange Beach recently retired a K-9 for medical reasons.”