Man is a dog's friend, and a dog is man's tailed friend. We all know this from childhood. A dog is a nanny, a reliable guard, an empathizer, a partner and often a family member. Unfortunately, not all four-legged animals are lucky; sometimes they end up on the street, but that’s not what we’re talking about today. I will tell you about police service dogs, which are trained by dog handlers of the Zonal Center of the Canine Service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the city of Moscow in Balashikha.
Oh, this is not an easy job...What do we know about the dog service in the police?
The canine service of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs was formed more than a hundred years ago. This year on June 21 she turned 106 years old. First nursery detection dogs was founded in St. Petersburg, on its basis a school for training police dogs was formed. The history of the canine police service is interesting and rich in various events and facts. 
To date Police service dogs work alongside people. WITH There are several specializations of four-legged police officers: searching for explosives and drugs, helping in the search for missing people and ensuring order in the areas of various public events, concerts and matches, patrolling on transport and others. In everyday police life, dogs are often used to go to crime scenes and search for criminals in hot pursuit, searching for explosives, drugs and ammunition.
The work is hard, responsible and requires great professional skill and skill. Training of canine handlers and training of dogs is carried out in special canine centers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
About one of these - Zonal center of the canine service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the city of Moscow, located in Balashikha, which I managed to visit yesterday, I’ll tell you. 
Before the excursion around the territory of the canine center, we talked with senior inspector-canine handler of the 3rd department of the Zonal center of the canine service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the city of Moscow, police captain Evgeniy Alekseevich Tritenko.
The conversation turned out to be very warm and friendly. Personally, I learned a lot of new and interesting things about the life, education and training of dogs, about characters and their oppositions.
Cat-cynologist) There are a couple of cats living on the territory of the center, you can’t pass by them without taking a couple of pictures. It’s interesting, but trained dogs don’t “follow” them. 
Go ahead. Still, we came to the dogs.
In addition to the enclosures, there are several training grounds and a stadium for training and training dogs. 
Evgeniy told how dogs are trained to detect drugs.
The center has several areas for practicing such skills. Training a dog to search for “bookmarks” is carried out in stages, and the duration of the course depends on the individual qualities of the dog. 
Special materials to which dogs must react are placed in various places in the car (trimming, wheels, body). 
The "Lada" has seen a lot. I wonder how many four-legged animals have been in it?) 
The center has its own veterinary service, which is equipped with all the necessary equipment not only for initial examinations dogs, but also for treatment and operations. Three veterinarians work here every five days. If special care and monitoring of a tailed patient is needed, then a vigil will be organized. 
The room itself was being disinfected, so I won’t be able to show how it is equipped and how the animals are treated.
The head physician of the veterinary service spoke with us. 
There are “quarantine” enclosures nearby. All enclosures on the territory of the center are two-story with a warm room, so the dogs are not cold and comfortable. Feeding is carried out according to schedule. Recently, all dogs have been switched to dry food, but sometimes dog handlers pamper their pets. 
We headed to one of the enclosures. 
How happy the kids were for us! They are cute) So sincere and ready to trust anyone. 
Puppies begin to be trained at a young age of several months.
“Sniffer” Semyon, aka Senya, aka spaniel. 
Semyon loves to cuddle and eat delicious food. He greeted us louder than anyone else.
Well, let's go watch the demonstration performances of four-legged beauties. 
Beautiful red-haired "German" Maximilian.
Affectionate and very sociable. 
She immediately surrendered into our arms)
The German shepherd Maximilian is not only a pupil, but also a member of the family of the inspector-canine handler of the detection dog breeding group of the Center for the Canine Service of the Internal Affairs Directorate for the North-Western Administrative District of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in Moscow, senior police lieutenant Svetlana Matviets. 
Sveta said that she recently got this girl. Before her, she trained a male dog. The dog lives at Svetlana’s house and is very loved by the children. It is worth noting that children are loved and welcome in the very center. U The Zonal Center for Cynological Service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the city of Moscow in Balashikha has a sponsored boarding school named after. Yu. Nikulina. Children often come to visit dogs.
Max performs all tasks perfectly. Its direction is the search for narcotic substances. 
The dog is experienced and very responsible. 
What can I say - the work is serious and very difficult, but the girls can handle it!
So...Who's crawling here? 
Young Fora. The German Shepherd is a tracker (I could be wrong, correct me if I am). 
I would like to shake a paw for the service of these beauties.
By the way, I even stroked them. It should not be surprising, for some time now I have been afraid of dogs, so the trip to the center was especially important for me. One step closer to getting rid of the phobia, so to speak) And I’m not alone. Dog handlers not only train dogs, but also help people.
Meet young Ryzhik. 
The handsome Malinois is just over a year old. The guy is mischievous. 
However, like any boy. 
Ryzhiy is being trained by police dog handler, senior police sergeant Ekaterina Lobanova. 
Red horse. 
And he runs up the stairs. 
Excellent promising service dog! 
Oooop. 
Passage. 
It seemed like he was ready to run around nonstop. 
Practicing "nippers". 
The special suit is very durable, but sometimes it gets bitten. 
Ryzhik “comes off.” 
The criminal will not hide from this. 
Small and smart little toothy. 
Catherine has another dog. The majestic black "German" Igor. 
The dog is an adult, an experienced policeman. 
Severe "biter". Igor attacks from above and can easily overwhelm him. 
Igor is strong. The criminal will not leave. 
We were shown attack and detention - one of the main ones in the police dog service. 
Black can do everything and b obeys the mistress unquestioningly. 
Photo for memory. Evgeny Tritenko and Igor. 
We walked for a long time and managed to freeze. The excursion continued in the center's museum, where many samples are presented that service dogs encounter in their work. 
Grenades. 
Mines. 
Explosive means. 
Improvised explosive devices. 
Thank you to all dog handlers and four-legged animals for a great day. 
Thanks to your service, we are safe.
Thank you
Why are service dogs needed in the police and army, why is play the most optimal type of training, and why is a shepherd dog better than a bull terrier? We went to the canine service to get answers to these questions.
Police service dog training
Police service dogs today are used in a number of ways. Four-legged animals are used in the patrol service (PPS); many animals are involved in ensuring safety in transport and in organizing public events. Dogs are also irreplaceable assistants to forensic experts.
Dogs in PPS outfit are qualified by departmental orders and instructions as special equipment. A trained dog is able to smell drugs or explosives and point to a person with such a dangerous cargo. A service dog will help a police officer detain an offender who poses a threat to others. We are talking primarily about armed criminals or persons behaving inappropriately and aggressively.
In addition, a dog near a police officer has a psychological impact on others. According to Ilya Firsov, head of the department for the training of canine specialists and training service dogs of the Zonal Center of the Canine Service (ZTSKS) of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the city of Moscow, a rare person will refuse to comply with the legal demands of a police officer and will aggressively object to him if the guard has a service dog on a leash .
By the way, one of the main goals of training service dogs for patrol service is to minimize possible harm to a person. A well-trained and physically strong shepherd dog can cause very serious injuries when detained, so the main requirement for the dog is to immediately follow the command “let go!”
The main task of dogs in transport police units and internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is to search and detect drugs and explosives. We are already accustomed to dog handlers with shepherd dogs or spaniels walking through the waiting rooms of train stations and airport lobbies. While the counselor is immersed in his thoughts, the dog works hard, searching for the characteristic aroma of TNT or marijuana in thousands of unfamiliar odors. Security at football and hockey matches, concerts and rallies always remains behind the scenes: shortly before the start of spectators, dog handlers with dogs inspect the stands of stadiums, auditoriums and other premises - are there any explosive devices?
A dog’s keen sense of smell is also indispensable in the forensic departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Sometimes four-legged animals help solve crimes that seemed completely unheard of. Science has proven: the probability that a dog will make a mistake in the smell is one in one hundred million, says Denis Velikiy, an employee of the forensic center of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. The behavior of a dog during an odorological examination (for example, if it is necessary to establish that a crime weapon belongs to a specific person) can become irrefutable evidence in court.
Peculiarities of breeds at work
The Russian police use about a dozen dog breeds. Some are capable of performing the entire range of service and investigative activities, while other breeds are used only in certain areas of work. The German Shepherd is recognized as the main and universal police breed in Russia today. It is effective both with the police squad, and in the operational-investigative group at the crime scene, and in search units.
One of the main advantages of the breed is its stable nervous system. This is a physically strong dog with fairly developed intelligence. The closest relative of the “Germans”, the East European Shepherd, which is also widely used in the police, has similar qualities. Another breed of shepherd dog, the Belgian, is also gaining popularity. Its main advantages are high speed and an “explosive” throw, which leaves the attacker no chance of escape.
Rottweilers are used a little less frequently by the police. Moderately aggressive and brave, these dogs are in demand both in patrol and search work.
Other breeds suitable for law enforcement are less common in the Russian police. Thus, Giant Schnauzers and Black Terriers are excellent guards, but they are expensive to maintain. Dobermans who also served as police Tsarist Russia, are not used today due to the selective deterioration of the breed in our country.
You can count the canine units with representatives of fighting dog breeds on one hand. A bull terrier's death grip when detaining a criminal is not required; at the same time, these dogs react too aggressively to their relatives, which does not add points to them.
Regarding breeds not intended for detention, such as Labradors and spaniels, the opinions of dog handlers vary. Some experts believe that both breeds are equally suitable for search work, others tend to give preference to spaniels, pointing out that Labradors are conflict-prone and that they are distracted by extraneous stimuli.
It's hard to study...
The physiology of dogs dictates the most effective age for training - from one to three years. Each animal is assigned to its own counselor and sent for training. It takes about six months to train a service dog. During this time, a general training course is completed and dogs are trained in specialized disciplines (search for explosives and drugs).
To train dogs, the canine service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs mainly uses a combination of two methods - taste rewards and games. The first helps to establish contact between the counselor and the young dog, as well as its rapid learning. The second method, which fulfills the animal’s natural need for play and puts the least amount of strain on the dog’s nervous system, instills in it an active desire to do work. With its help, search dogs are especially well trained.
In addition, the game method of training is used when training dogs for detention. A young dog’s toy is attached to the “defendant” (that’s the name given to a trainer in a tight suit portraying a criminal), and the animal must rip it off. The teenage puppy is then allowed to take the protective sleeve away from the handler and pat it. After this, the dog is taught to bite the sleeve of the fleeing person. At all stages, training is based on the innate hunting instinct of a predator.
The author of these lines experienced first-hand what it’s like to be detained police shepherd. The detention, fortunately a training one, was carried out at the ZTSKS training site. The role of the predator was played by a one-year-old, coal-black male German Shepherd named Egor. I put on a protective suit. To ensure that the journalist was protected from injury, police dog handlers provided Lenta.ru with the thickest padded trousers and the same jacket, which completely impede movement.
Having pulled on all this armor with difficulty and moving like an obese penguin, I go out to the starting point. Egor watches my every move with animal joy and, barking furiously, breaks from the leash. “The main thing is don’t open up. The dog grabs the part of the body that is closest to it. If Yegor jumps on you, hide your face, he will then grab your chest or shoulder. But it’s better if you put your hand forward,” the dog handler Alexey gives the final instructions, hands me a pistol with a light-noise charge and runs away to the side. “Shout louder, attract the dog’s attention,” Alexey advises from the side. Why, the dog is already all focused on me.
The command “Face!” sounds, Egor overtakes me in three leaps and tightly clings to my sleeve. I press the trigger of the pistol... Surprisingly, the police dog didn’t even notice the shot that almost made me deaf. Three seconds of struggle, and the “intruder” is defeated - I stumble in my oak suit and fall to the ground, and Egor continues to shake my hand. The only thought that flashed during these moments was how painful it would be without a protective sleeve!
After training in compliance with the rules of training, the dog gains the ability to detain an armed criminal without fear of shots or blows. It is worth noting that training on the site, when dogs literally “tear to pieces” the trainer in protective clothing, has little in common with real application toothy “special means”. As mentioned above, after a bite, a service dog must release the victim on the first command. “Tearing apart” for educational purposes is used to satisfy the instincts of animals and give them emotional release.
The use of service dogs in the police continues to be relevant in law enforcement agencies around the world. However, this is just one side of dog work in law enforcement agencies. Rescuers, military, drug police - that's far from full list professions in which a service dog plays important role. And we will tell you about this later.
Training service dogs in the army
The Central School, having switched to peacetime staff, underwent a large reduction, which occurred in all subsequent years. It was clear that the school could not remain within the previous state, because the army in the post-war period mainly needed guard dogs. Along with the staff troubles, the question of relocating the school outside of Moscow constantly arose.
After the reductions, the school was left with two sergeant training battalions, an advanced training course for officers, a training course for junior lieutenants - platoon commanders (one company), a scientific department, a breeding nursery, a combat dog nursery and other support services. This also made it possible to carry out significant work in the scientific department and breeding dogs. The command of the school, its head, Major General Medvedev G.P., realizing that the need for guard dogs in the army will increase every year, the question arises of maintaining service dog breeding clubs and creating new ones. The number of service breed dogs in the country has decreased. The central school donated 70 heads of adult dogs, exported from Eastern Europe and Germany, to the clubs. The school's breeding kennel regularly handed over puppies to dog lovers for raising. In 1947-1949. More than a thousand puppies were given to lovers free of charge. At the same time, thanks to the work carried out, the school’s nursery was later replenished with breeding stock of dogs good quality official and hunting breeds. This made it possible to obtain more puppies of good quality and transfer them to clubs for further reproduction of dogs locally.
In 1948, the breeding and scientific department, the laboratory of genetics and reflexology began to implement what had already been started by Professor N.A. Ilyin. in 1930, work on interbreeding dogs, German shepherds with huskies (the resulting mestizos were called “laikoids”). Airedale terriers were crossed with the Russian hound, the mestizos were called “brown hound”. The work carried out was not yet the beginning of breeding a new breed.
In 1949, the nursery under the management of the head, Lieutenant Colonel Nikolai Fedorovich Kalinin, veterinarian Grishin and livestock specialist Warrant Officer Vladimir Pavlovich Sheinin began work on breeding new breeds “black terrier”, “Moscow Watchdog”, “Moscow Diver”, “Moscow Great Dane”. Preparatory work for interbreeding dogs was carried out by the nursery a little earlier, in 1950-1952. directions in this work were determined. The need to develop new breeds was caused by the fact that in the post-war period, guard dogs became the main use of dogs in the army, and previous experience of their use in military units confirmed that in areas with low temperatures in winter, many breeds of service dogs used for guard duty not adapted to harsh conditions. The German Shepherd, as the most common universal service dog, is used in areas where the temperature drops to -20 degrees, the dog's stay on duty is reduced to 6 hours and it must be replaced by another.
The central school began work on breeding new breeds. The main task was to create dogs that meet the requirements of a guard dog: tall, physically strong, vicious, with good coat, powerful, and tolerates low temperatures well. Based on the requirements for a guard dog, even during the period of the formation of the breed groups “Black Terrier”, “Moscow Watchdog”, “Moscow Diver”, dogs of breeds that were carriers of the qualities necessary for a guard dog were crossed with each other. The obtained and raised puppies of the first and second generation were tested in work and the best specimens were selected for further work.
In subsequent years, the school continued to operate within the limits of the state-provided training for officers, non-commissioned officers, counselors and guard dogs. The general atmosphere in the school staff was working. However, Medvedev managed to avoid the question of moving the school outside of Moscow for quite a long time. The school remained in Moscow until 1960. The school command was well aware that any relocation of the school would have a negative impact on the work of the school; this was confirmed in 1960. With the move of the school from Moscow, even to the Moscow region, the school lost experienced senior officers who had served a specified period of time in the army, and some of the junior officers who had 12-15 years of service resigned, not wanting to move with their families, and the requirements in this regard for these The officers from the high command were categorical, everything had to start all over again.
On August 23, 1955, the school was removed from the subordination of the SA Engineering Troops Directorate and transferred to the subordination of the head of the personnel and service department of the General Staff of the Ground Forces. The school's annual target for training personnel was 1,170 people, trained guard dogs - 2,000 heads. Each counselor, trained at the school, went to his unit with two guard dogs. Since about 1963, due to the difficulty of preparing dogs, they began to send one dog at a time with counselors. The breeding kennel continues to work on improving the breed groups of dogs “Black Terrier”, “Moscow Watchdog”, “Moscow Diver”. All puppies born and raised in the nursery undergo training in the educational departments of the school. The best specimens in appearance, of the most desirable type, are used for further work. They have not yet been released outside the nursery into the hands of hobbyists.
For the first time, dogs of breed groups bred in the kennel of the Central School were shown to the general public in Moscow in 1955 at the 19th Moscow City Dog Show of Service Breeds. The appearance of black terriers in the rings in 1955, and then in 1957 at the All-Union Dog Show and Exhibition held at VDNKh in Moscow, where the breeding kennel of the Central School “Red Star” presented 43 black terriers. Numerous spectators and dog breeders saw dogs of a new breed in the rings, although the black terrier breed would be approved much later. At demonstration performances, black terriers performed very well. What he saw at the exhibition aroused interest in these dogs. Fans began to buy puppies not only from Moscow, but also from other cities, and the number of black terriers grew rapidly. Some service dog breeding clubs in Moscow, Leningrad, Chelyabinsk, Nizhny Tagil and other cities began to breed black terriers at home.
1959 almost became the last year in the existence of the school and nursery. The General Staff prepared a draft directive on the transfer of the Central School to the Moscow Military District. The future fate of the school did not bode well, because... she would have turned out to be an ordinary district one. Fortunately, the finished draft document was not completed and implemented, thanks to the Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Army General Ivanov. However, the Central School was awaiting a new blow, which had been brewing for the last 10 years, that is, to remove it from Moscow. If in 1951 it was only possible to make room, now dog breeders had to leave Moscow. By decision of the high command, the school had to leave for the Urals, which would mean its complete liquidation as a special unit. Quite by chance, General Staff employees suggested to General Medvedev that there was a reserve airfield in the Dmitrovsky district in the Moscow region during the war. After the war, there was a school for training junior specialists of airborne troops (it was disbanded in 1959), Medvedev managed to soften the blow, and the headquarters gave its consent to the relocation to the Dmitrov region.
In 1960, two training companies for training guard dog leaders, located in camp tents, because the abandoned buildings of the previous part were so dilapidated that they could not even meet the initial needs. Combat and special training is being carried out on site; at the same time, work is underway to repair two wooden barracks and equip dog walks. The school did not stop training personnel and training dogs. Two companies for training sergeants and a company for training counselors remained in Moscow. The Ministry of Defense also threw in the work; by its order, in response to the appeal of the All-Russian Society of the Blind to provide assistance in the creation of a republican school for training guide dogs for the blind, a guide dog school was created at the Central School of Military Dog Breeding and on its territory, its head for many years was Nikolai Egorovich Orekhov. In 1965, the school for the blind settled at the station. Kupavna, Moscow region.
The Black Russian Terrier (RBT) was created in Russia in the late 40s - early 50s. XX century through complex reproductive crossing of a number of breeds, including the Giant Schnauzer, Airedale Terrier, Rottweiler and Newfoundland. The original breed was the Giant Schnauzer. The breed was bred at a military dog breeding school near Moscow on the basis of the Red Star breeding kennel. The purpose of creating the breed was the desire to obtain a large, brave, strong, controllable dog with a pronounced protective instinct, suitable for performing various types of service, easily adapting to various climatic conditions. The breed was recognized by the FCI in 1984.
On October 7, 1965, the Central Order of the Red Star school of military dog breeding was renamed the 4th Central Order of the Red Star school of junior guard service specialists, the military unit was assigned the number 32516. The staff of the school, approved by the General Staff, remained long years and did not change until 1987. However, minor changes were made: certain new officer positions, positions of warrant officers, conscripts, and civilian personnel. There was a gradual expansion of staff. By 1980, the Central School had a fairly good training base and living conditions for officers and their families, and for unit personnel. For 15 years from 1960 to 1975. only the school's breeding nursery remained in Moscow (Kuskovo station), since the construction of the nursery for its location was not completed (its equipment was completed in October 1978). Remaining in the place where it was created in 1925 in Moscow, the nursery continued to work, maintaining contact with service dog breeding clubs, exchanging experience in breeding work, the nursery transfers puppies of breeds of interest to the clubs. Eleven breeds of dogs were bred in the kennel. In 1970, a nursery in the GDR purchased 9 heads of young dogs: 3 St. Bernards, 2 Rottweilers, 2 Giant Schnauzers, 2 Newfoundlands. Saint Bernards and Newfoundlands were used to work on breeding "Moscow Watchdogs" and "divers". IN pure form only once was a litter of St. Bernards obtained. Giant Schnauzers and Rottweilers were bred in their pure form.
With the move to the territory of military unit 32516 (Dmitrovsky district), the breeding kennel continues to breed pure German shepherds, Caucasian, South Russian, Central Asian Shepherds, Rottweilers, Giant Schnauzers, Laikas, and also continues to improve the breed groups “Black Terrier”, “Moscow Watchdog” and “Diver”.
In 1985, by Order No. 40 of December 12, 1985, the Main Directorate for Nature Conservation, Reserves, Forestry and Hunting approved the standard for the Moscow Watchdog breed, bred by the Krasnaya Zvezda breeding nursery. By order of the Chairman of the USSR Service Dog Breeding Federation, Lieutenant General Sergeev, the Moscow city and regional service dog breeding clubs registered the “Moscow Watchdog” breed. The breed group “diver”, which did not become widespread among amateurs and did not have a sufficient number of dogs to register it as a breed, and soon, by decision of the Federation of Service Dog Breeding, the diver was excluded from service breeds.
In 1980, in connection with military operations in Afghanistan, the need to train dogs for mine detection service once again arose. The unit’s specialists studied archival data from the period of the Great Patriotic War, available instructions for training mine-detecting dogs. The first group - 10 crews of the mine-detecting service (trainers with dogs) were trained at the school and sent to Afghanistan. The group was headed by the school dog handler officer, Captain A. Bibikov.
On the spot, the dogs showed high results in searching for mine explosive devices, and the command of the 40th Army located in Afghanistan requested as many mine detection service (MRS) specialists as possible.
The school did a lot of work on the selection and training of both trainers and mine-detecting dogs. High requirements were presented to the health and endurance of dogs, because they had to work in hot climates, often high in the mountains.
In the laboratory, together with the veterinary service of the unit, a “Memo to the leader of a mine-detecting dog” was developed, which described in an accessible form the actions of the leader in unforeseen situations, first aid to the injured dog.
For the first time, experiments were carried out to determine the dog’s abilities in searching for mines and to increase their performance using non-medicinal means. Together with Moscow Higher Technical University named after. Bauman developed a needle applicator, which improved the quality and speed of searching for a mine-detecting dog. This same needle applicator has been used to treat cuts and paralysis in dogs.
Since the effectiveness of MRS calculations largely depends on how correctly and quickly the trainer evaluates the dog’s actions during the search for mines and reacts to them, it became necessary to select MRS calculations based on their compatibility. Such work was carried out at the school by a team of researchers from the Moscow Higher Technical School. Bauman, headed by A. Ulogov and a group of canine specialists led by the head of the laboratory of reflexology and genetics, veterinarian L.R. Plotvinova.
The veterinary service team and the school command published the textbooks “Basics of Service Dog Breeding”, “Basics of Training Military Dogs”, and revised the “Manual on the Training and Use of Military Dogs”; a set of posters on service dog breeding was developed, where sections of dog anatomy, physiology, the main signs of dog disease, the basics of feeding, keeping, saving dogs and using them for various types of services are presented in a visual form. These posters are still used in units where dogs are in service.
In 1988, the 4th Central Order of the Red Star training school for junior specialists in service dog breeding was transferred to the subordination of the Organizational Directorate of the General Staff of the Ground Forces to the military service department.
In 1994, the training school for junior specialists in service dog breeding was transformed into the 470th Methodological and Cynological Center for Service Dog Breeding of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
The transfer of the Central School to the battalion system in 1987 and its transformation in 1994 into the methodological and cynological center for service dog breeding of the RF Armed Forces and the creation of a methodological department provided for by the new staff of the school opens good prospects before the command of the school to restore the traditions it had lost, a highly organized training center for training qualified personnel for service dog breeding, a methodological center for improving the training of service dogs for various services, and the development of new types of application in the army and the national economy.
The contribution of the Central School of Military Dog Breeding in the field of canine science in the country is quite significant. The country has developed its own domestic school for training service dogs, based on scientific research by domestic scientists and specialists in the field of cynology.
The scientific world was shocked by the experiments of the head of the school, Major General Medvedev. Grigory Panteleimonovich was involved in organ transplantation in dogs. Now, thanks to his scientific work, hearts and kidneys are already being successfully transplanted into people. And before, he experimented on hopelessly sick animals. Canine scientists are also responsible for the invention of the first gas mask for dogs.
Currently
Training service dogs today
In the early 1990s, the unique school almost ceased to exist - there was nothing to feed the animals. It got to the point that the officers shared their rations with the dogs.
The dog handlers managed to get by somehow for almost 10 years. Until 2002, the English research center Walsemme Center concluded an agreement with the Russian army for the full logistics of the school and nursery. And in return, he received the opportunity to develop food for animals in the service of Her Majesty’s military.
Krasnaya Zvezda is currently developing food that can fully provide food for animals working in extreme situations, everything you need - calories, vitamins and microelements
On a fine, but very cold February day (below -20°C outside), we went on a fascinating excursion to the 470th Canine Center for Service Dog Breeding and the Krasnaya Zvezda Kennel, military unit 32516, and got acquainted with four-legged pets and their mentors with the help of a press club MO Renat Dunyashov
Elena Anosova
On June 21, Russia celebrates the Day of Canine Units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. Many professional dog breeders, even those not related to the police service, consider this holiday to be theirs and simply call it Dog Handler Day. It is celebrated by people for whom a dog is not only a person’s friend, but a faithful partner and an attentive student, a profession and even the meaning of life.
The Day of Canine Units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia is one of the youngest significant dates. The corresponding order was published by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation on June 18, 2004. The date June 21 was chosen for a reason. It was on this day in 1909, one hundred and nine years ago, that the first special nursery for police detective dogs in the Russian Empire opened in St. Petersburg. Although detection dogs were used in individual police units until 1909, it was the opening of the kennel that can be considered the starting point in the centralization of the police canine service.
If we talk about the history of police canine training in our country, we can highlight several of its main stages. The first stage is the beginning of the path of service dog breeding in its modern form, which falls on the second half of the 19th century. The second stage is the development of service dog breeding in 1909-1917. The third stage covers the pre-war period in the history of Soviet cynology, the fourth stage – the post-war period in the history of Soviet cynology. After the collapse of the USSR and large-scale political and social changes in the country, the fifth stage in the history of service dog breeding began.
Starting from the second half of the 19th century, dogs were used for guard duty by Russian troops in the Caucasus, and then in Central Asia. It was in Turkestan that dogs (Central Asian Shepherds) began to be used not only to guard the location of troops, but also to solve other tasks, for example, to carry ammunition. By the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. dogs have already been very widely used in the Russian army - both for delivering reports, and for searching and rescuing the wounded, and for guard duty. In terms of the use of service dogs, the police department lagged noticeably behind the army. Only at the beginning of the twentieth century, focusing on best practices European countries, the domestic police began to use special dogs - bloodhounds. To do this, emissaries of Russian police departments went to European countries, primarily Germany, Austria-Hungary and France, to learn from experience and acquire several specially trained dogs.
One of the first pages in the history of police cynology in Russia was opened in Kyiv in 1905. On January 17, 1905, the murder of a woman was reported to the Pechersk police station. A policeman and a special agent, who was walking with Gekse's dog, moved to the crime scene. Two German shepherds, Gekse and Ferry, were recently brought from Germany for the needs of the Kyiv City Police Department. Gekse walked around all the people gathered near the crime scene, but could not identify anyone. Only at the police station did she confidently rush to one of the detainees brought to the station. This was one of the first crimes solved with the help of a sniffer dog. 
In 1907, preparations began in the police department for the creation of a special service that would be responsible for the use of dogs to solve crimes and search for criminals. A key role in the development of domestic police canine training was played by Vasily Ivanovich Lebedev (1868-1930), who served as an official for special assignments in the Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire. Before he joined the police, Vasily Lebedev had studied at the Kiev Junker School and six years of service as an officer in an infantry regiment. In 1893, Lebedev was appointed junior assistant bailiff, and seven years later, in 1900, he headed the detective police.
A true detective professional, Vasily Ivanovich Lebedev has always strived to use the most innovative, as they would say now, technologies and methods of crime investigation. The use of sniffer dogs for police purposes was considered a very advanced practice at that time. To get acquainted with the experience of European police, Lebedev went on a special business trip. In the Belgian city of Ghent, Vasily Lebedev visited an institution unique for that time - a special police kennel, where there were at least forty dogs. Four-legged police assistants were trained in search and guard service, they were trained to maintain public order, including to disperse demonstrations and other mass gatherings of people for dubious purposes, which was very important at that time national history. Vladimir Lebedev purchased two eight-month-old puppies in Ghent.
On January 11, 1908, the Russian Society for the Promotion of the Use of Dogs in Police and Guard Service was created, which is part of the Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire. The society published the magazine “Police and Guard Dog”, the publication of which was interrupted only with the outbreak of the First World War. Thus, in 1907-1908. The centralization of the police canine service began. Inquiries were sent to the territorial divisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs about the number of dogs used and the availability of experienced employees. It turned out that service dogs in 1908 were used by the police of only three Russian cities - in Kyiv, Yekaterinoslav and Maloyaroslavets (Kaluga province). But these dogs practically did not carry out search and guard service, but underwent training.
The complexity of the preparation was aggravated by the lack of experience in dog breeding and dog training among police officers. Therefore, the leadership of the Police Department decided to purchase already trained police dogs abroad, so as not to waste time and money on training. Thanks to the acquisition of dogs abroad, they appeared in the police departments of a number of Russian cities. At the same time, police officers who decided to become service dog trainers also underwent canine training.
At the beginning of 1909, the mayor of St. Petersburg, at the request of the Russian Society for the Promotion of the Use of Dogs for Police and Guard Service, allocated a plot of land (5.5 acres) for the construction of a special dog nursery. On June 21, 1909, the grand opening and consecration of the first school in the Russian Empire - a nursery for service dogs - took place. Vasily Lebedev himself gave lectures on the basics of detection and training at school, despite being busy at his main place of duty. The school's cadets were police officers and their four-legged pets. On October 25, 1909, the first graduation from the school-nursery took place.
The best student of the school was recognized as the police officer Vladimir Dmitriev from Moscow and his assistant, the 11-month-old Doberman Pinscher Tref. Graduates of the school with their dogs went to serve in the police departments of the Russian Empire - in Minsk, Poltava, Tver, Vladikavkaz and other cities. During the first three years of operation, the school managed to train 300 trainers and more than 400 service dogs. By the way, the Doberman Tref of the district warden Dmitriev, who was recognized as the best graduate of the school, solved more than one and a half thousand crimes during his years of service in the police. For example, in January 1910, Tref helped Dmitriev solve two thefts in the Nikolaev Orphan Girls' School in one day. A very large sum for those times disappeared there - 400 rubles, which were kept by the school's resident, Treasurer Emelyanov. If it were not for the Doberman Tref, the crime would have remained unsolved. But the four-legged policeman confidently picked up the trail and soon the stolen money was discovered in the room where the school stoker Zhukov lived.
The high-profile case of theft at the Nikolaev School is just an episode in the track record of the dog Tref and his owner, the police officer Dmitriev. Soon newspapers and magazines began writing about the “wonderful” sniffer dog and trainer Dmitriev, and police departments of the Russian Empire began inviting them on business trips to help in the investigation of local complex cases. For example, Dmitriev and Tref participated in the capture of a group of dangerous terrorists - anarchists, operating in the Bryansk and Oryol provinces.
The success of service dog breeding led to the fact that in 1911, police dogs were already serving in 48 provinces and 3 regions of Russia. In total, 367 police trainers and 629 dogs were in police service. The most common breed was the Shepherd - 341 dogs, then in terms of prevalence was the Doberman (the most famous and popular in Europe police dog) - 243 dogs, and the Airedale terrier was at the bottom of the list - only 39 dogs.
By the beginning of the First World War, service dogs had become an integral part of the police service. In addition to searching for criminals, dogs were used for night patrols of police officers, detaining suspicious persons, performing guard duty to protect important facilities, escorting and guarding prisoners, and searching for explosive devices. Methods of training trainers and service dogs were gradually improved. In less than a decade, Russian service dog breeding has made a colossal leap forward. If at the beginning of the twentieth century there was no service dog breeding in the country as such, then by 1913 in Russian Empire Police trainers from other European countries have already come to get acquainted with the experience. Our country has become one of the world centers of cynology, maintaining this position until the present day.
An even more rapid development of service dog breeding for the needs of criminal investigation and public order began after the October Revolution. In the first decades of Soviet power, not only the previous methods of service dog breeding were preserved and developed, but also the service was further improved in all areas.
At this stage of the development of domestic dog breeding, a very important role was played by the cynologist Vsevolod Vasilyevich Yazykov, who worked since March 1918 as the head of the Petrograd nursery of criminal investigation dogs. He developed the basic methods for training service dogs for the needs of the OGPU - NKVD of the USSR. Thus, methods were created for guard dogs; bodyguard service dog; MRS service dog (mine detection service); service dog ZKS (protective guard service); search service dog for GUKRM (workers' and peasants' militia) and GUPVO (border troops). In 1921 V.V. Yazykov proposed organizing a Central Kennel - a school for service-search dog breeding and similar schools - nurseries in the regions of the country. The leadership of the country's criminal investigation department agreed with Yazykov's arguments and soon he himself headed the Central Nursery. In the 1930s in the Soviet Union, German shepherds finally established themselves as the main breed of service dogs used for the needs of the police service. Since that time, this particular breed has become the “face” of Russian cynology.
During the Great Patriotic War, service dogs were used everywhere at the front - to deliver reports, clear mines, search for and evacuate the wounded, guard prisoners and warehouses. No less important was the role of service dogs in the rear, where they had to assist the police and security agencies in the fight against criminality, spies and saboteurs. After the war, the development of service dog breeding in the interests of the Soviet police continued. Almost all territorial divisions of internal affairs bodies, up to the district level, have acquired their own dog handlers. At the same time, the system of training both the service dogs themselves and their instructors - the people who were supposed to lead the four-legged law enforcement officers “into battle” - was also being improved.
Modern Russian police cynology directly inherits the traditions and techniques that were formed in the post-war Soviet Union. Currently, the training of dog handlers for the needs of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs is carried out at the Rostov School of Service and Detective Dog Breeding of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (Rostov-on-Don) and the Ufa School for the Training of Dog Handlers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (Ufa, Bashkortostan). In addition, at the Perm Military Institute of the National Guard Troops there is a special canine department, which trains officers - dog handlers - specialists with higher education. It is safe to say that Russian educational establishments, training dog handlers for the needs of law enforcement services, are unique and of great value both for dog training and for national security in general.
On the Day of Canine Units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, “Military Review” congratulates all specialists and veterans - dog handlers, everyone who works and has worked with service dogs or is in any way involved in this service, on their professional holiday. Happiness, health and peaceful service to you and your pets.
Alemannic laws (the Alemannics are a union of Germanic tribes that existed eight centuries ago) promised severe punishment for killing a shepherd dog.
"Mad" captain
The breed, known as the “German Shepherd,” appeared in the 19th century thanks to a retired captain, a scion of an old South German family, Max Emil Friedrich von Stephanitz (1864-1936), who was passionate about breeding herding dogs. This man sacrificed his military career and even his good name, to make his own dream come true - to breed a breed of dogs that correspond to the motto: “Intelligence and benefit.” Beauty, from the point of view of the former captain, is a secondary matter, but beauty is not a concern either. Having remarkable intelligence and bringing significant benefits to people, German shepherds simply could not be ugly.
On the endless pastures, the German Shepherd became irreplaceable, but gradually the huge herds of sheep became a thing of the past, and eventually herding dogs were out of work. Von Stefanitz did not like this at all, and he began to offer his pets to serve in the police and even in the army.
The generals openly laughed at the fanatical dog handler and did not accept such a generous gift. The army is not a herd (although von Stephanitz, like former officer, I was ready to argue with that) and does not need to be herded. But the police treated the shepherd dogs quite loyally, and soon the servants of the law were convinced that they had acquired irreplaceable assistants. This is how German Shepherds became service and detection dogs.
Max von Stephanitz(1864-1936) with his first German woman.
There is a connection!
Soon the army began to recognize the usefulness of shepherd dogs. But these dogs showed themselves most clearly in military operations.
During the First World War, it was documented how a signal shepherd dog covered five kilometers in 12 minutes under artillery fire. Four-legged messengers carried operational information; cases of their interception by the enemy were extremely rare and therefore documents entrusted to dogs were not even encrypted (for transmission speed).
At the same time, they began to be used to carry cartridges and machine guns; Shepherd dogs were made into telegraph operators who restored broken communication lines (for this purpose, a reel with an unwinding cable was attached to the dog, which it pulled through enemy fire). To ensure long-distance communication, shepherd dogs delivered carrier pigeons to the front line in light portable dovecotes.
Nurse dogs searched for the seriously wounded on the battlefields. Having discovered a bloodied but still living soldier, the dog grabbed his helmet or cap and galloped with it after the orderlies, and then showed them the way. Any personal item was a signal that a person was alive and needed medical care.
There is no need to talk about guard duty, escorting prisoners and searching for lost patrols.
"Alsatian" Shepherd
Nazi Germany, for obvious reasons, did not enjoy the favor of most countries, but even the most patriotic French, English, American and Russian dog owners could not refuse German shepherds. Therefore, during that troubled period when everything German was not valued, these dogs were diplomatically renamed “Alsatian” shepherd dogs.
But, even becoming “Alsatian” for some time, German shepherds carried out their service in the German, Soviet, and other armies of the world.
The first German shepherd to die on duty during World War II was a French army signal dog named Bobby. In March 1940, he was carrying an important message across the front line and came under fire from German machine guns. At night, French soldiers carried Bobby's body from the battlefield and buried the four-legged hero with honors.
In the United States, the most famous shepherd dog is Chipe, a soldier of the 3rd Infantry Division. American army. Chipe served as a security detail during the negotiations between Roosevelt and Churchill in Casablanca in January 1943; participated in many military operations in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France and Germany and received two awards for his bravery: the Silver Star and the Purple Heart.
"I am an example"
"Passer, I am something other than a monument, perhaps more than a symbol, I am an example." This inscription adorns the monument erected to a German shepherd named Flambeau, a faithful friend of the lieutenant of the French army of the 99th Alpine Infantry Regiment Maigret. Even before the outbreak of the First World War, Flambeau received several medals as a mountain rescuer, and during the period of hostilities he carried war reports. His descendants also earned a good memory among the soldiers as carriers of ammunition. Unfortunately, all Flambeau puppies died on the fields of World War II while performing combat missions.
On January 12, 1945, a German shepherd named Irma, who worked for the London Civil Defense Service, was awarded a medal for rescuing people from the rubble. When the rescue team was about to leave the rubble, the dog resisted and did not leave until two still living girls were pulled out from under the stones.
Photo from www.thesun.co.uk
From the sky - into battle!
During the war in Indochina, which flared up immediately after the end of World War II, the world's first canine parachute unit was created. Yes, yes, German shepherds were taught to jump with a parachute, and quite successfully at that. During the experiments, it turned out that dogs can easily travel through the air and are ready to begin combat missions immediately after landing. Six German shepherds - Cado, Lledo, Remo, Lux, Borris and Silly, aged between two and three years, became the first paratrooper dogs in the French army. Special parachutes were made for them, and the dogs were enlisted in the army by special order.
During the Algerian War (1954-1962), German shepherds serving in the French Foreign Legion helped find saboteurs. One of them was the shepherd dog Gamen with military base in Beni Mesa. The dog was very aggressive, and only the gendarme Gilbert Godefroy managed to win his trust.
On March 29, 1958, the legionnaires were raised with the command “To arms!” - a detachment of saboteurs crossed the border. Gaman and his guide were taken to the site of the breakthrough by helicopter, they immediately began the search, and the soldiers of the Foreign Legion followed them.
When meeting with the saboteurs, Godefroy and his shepherd were mortally wounded by machine gun fire. However, Gamen rushed at the shooter and gnawed his throat, and then crawled to the owner and covered him with his body until help arrived.
During excavations in Pompeii, the skeleton of a dog was found on top of the remains of a child. The animal tried to protect the baby from the ashes of Vesuvius.
Konstantin Karelov
Magazine "Secrets of the 20th Century"
posted with permission from Press Courier Publishing House
copying is prohibited by the publisher!
On August 19, 1943, on the Polotsk-Drissa stretch, right in front of the approaching Nazi train, a powerful explosion was heard. 10 enemy carriages were destroyed and the railway track was disabled. The fearless saboteur who detonated the explosive device served in the 14th assault engineer brigade. The shepherd dog Dina took a course in tank destruction at the Central School of Military Dog Breeding of the Red Army, and then received the profession of a saboteur under the guidance of the commander of a platoon of trainers, senior lieutenant of the 37th engineering battalion of mine detectors, Dina Volkats. Then, on the Polotsk-Drissa section, Dina's dog jumped onto the rails in front of the approaching train, threw off a pack of shells, pulled the pin with his teeth and managed to run into the forest before the explosion occurred. Sabotage against the train is far from the only feat of the shepherd dog, which valiantly served alongside Soviet soldiers. Twice she participated in demining Polotsk, including the discovery of a surprise mine that was hidden in a mattress in a hospital building abandoned by the occupiers.
In 1946, a beautiful dog starred in the Soviet film White Fang, based on the novel by Jack London. Few people knew that he had a difficult and very heroic fate for an ordinary German Shepherd. Dzhulbars spent a whole year at war. From September 1944 to August 1945 He served in the 14th Assault Engineer Brigade and discovered 7,486 mines and more than 150 shells in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Romania. Dzhulbars cleared mines from historical buildings in Budapest, Vienna, Prague, and discovered mines on the grave of Taras Shevchenko in Kanev and in St. Vladimir's Cathedral in Kyiv. A true warrior, Dzhulbars was awarded the medal “For Military Merit” on March 21, 1945, and on June 24, 1945 he took part in the Victory Parade on Red Square. The wounded dog with bandaged paws could not move independently, so he was carried in a special tray, which Joseph Stalin ordered to be made from his own jacket. The commander of the unique 37th carried the dog separate battalion demining Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Mazover.
These are just a few examples of shepherd dogs that performed valiant service during the Great Patriotic War. The Shepherd is the most common of all dog breeds serving humans. More precisely, this is a whole category of breeds, including the German Shepherd, the Scottish Collie Shepherd, the Caucasian Shepherd, and many other breeds, just listing which would be quite impressive. Today, shepherd dogs are pets, reliable defenders of their owners’ houses and apartments, and most importantly, service dogs, which neither the army, nor the police, nor the border service can do without.
Of course, the most common service breed Among the shepherds - the German shepherd. The roots of this breed go back to ancient times. Some historians trace the origins of the German Shepherd to dogs of the Bronze Age. Zoologists who studied their remains revealed the similarity of Bronze Age dogs with the small Indian wolf, which is considered the most likely ancient ancestor of the German shepherd. In the Middle Ages, the Hofowart dog became widespread in Central Europe, which was used to guard homes, and later its main task became the protection of sheep flocks. That’s why the dog was called a sheep dog, that is, a shepherd dog.
By the beginning of the 18th century, shepherd dogs had already become widespread in Germany, but the center of their breeding remained Württemberg and Southwestern Thuringia. Württemberg and Thuringian Shepherds had certain differences. Thus, the dogs of Württemberg were larger, had thick black or red hair, and semi-erect or hanging ears. In character they were calmer than the smaller Thuringian Shepherd Dogs of the “wolf” color. But Thuringian Shepherds had erect ears, which was very popular among dog lovers. Both types of dogs crossed with each other, resulting in further development breeds
At the origins of the standard of the modern German Shepherd stood the cavalry officer Captain Max Emil Friedrich von Stephanitz, a graduate of the Berlin Veterinary School, who served in a cavalry regiment in a position related to the acquisition and training of horses. He started breeding dogs because life circumstances- having married an actress of humble origin, von Stefanitz was forced to leave the service. In 1899, he acquired a dog in Karlsruhe named Hector von Lirkenhayn, who amazed him with its perfection. The retired captain “renamed” the dog Horand von Grafrath and entered him as number one in the created stud book of German shepherds. This is how the breed appeared, which is still considered the best service dog in the world. Captain von Stefanitz, as a former military man, considered it his duty to find and make maximum use of the qualities of the German Shepherd that are most useful for human activity. He quickly realized that a dog could not only guard flocks of sheep, but also carry out many other, more complex tasks.
Being an intelligent man, Max von Stefanitz paid the main attention not so much to the appearance and parameters when selecting shepherd dogs, but to the working qualities and intelligence of the breed. The most significant qualities of the German Shepherd traditionally include high intelligence, good trainability, unpretentiousness to living conditions and the ability to quickly adapt to new conditions, developed security abilities, the absence of causeless aggression towards people and other dogs, energy and endurance. This combination of qualities made the German Shepherd a universal and irreplaceable service dog, which could easily be used for a variety of needs in both military and civil service.
Already in 1901, the German Shepherd began to be used for the needs of the police service. Wherein for a long time Dobermans remained the most common police dog in Germany. Dobermans were used throughout the first three decades of the 20th century in Russia, first by the Tsarist police and then by the Soviet police.
The First World War gave a huge impetus to the spread of the German Shepherd in military service. It was during the terrible war years that specialists from European armies came to the conclusion that the German Shepherd has no equal in its qualities among other dog breeds. The German Shepherd turned out to be a “all-rounder”, suitable for guard duty, for escorting, for delivering reports, and for performing sanitary duties. At first it received maximum distribution in German army, then German shepherds appeared in the armies of the Entente countries. Moreover, for obvious reasons, they tactfully tried not to advertise the German origin of the dog - in the French and then in the British armies it was renamed the Alsatian Shepherd.
In the Soviet Union, centralized breeding of service dogs began in 1924. It was then that the Central School of Dog Breeding of the Border Troops of the GPU and the Central School of Sniffer Dogs of the Criminal Investigation Department of the NKVD of the USSR began to import from Germany various breeds of service dogs that could be used for the needs of the police, border and internal troops. Among the imported breeds was the German Shepherd, although according to tradition, Soviet police officers then paid the main attention to the Doberman.
However, by the early 1940s, the NKVD of the USSR gradually abandoned the practice of using Dobermanns in the police, escort and border troops. This decision was due to two main reasons. Firstly, it was very difficult for short-haired Dobermans to carry out escort and guard duty in the harsh Russian climate, especially in the Urals, Siberia, and the European North, where most of the camps were located. Secondly, the nature of the breed also played an important role - the Doberman becomes attached to one owner, while in military service and in the police dogs often change owners, since the previous instructors and handlers of service dogs are demobilized or dismissed from service. It turned out that German shepherds were ideally suited for the needs of the troops and the police - they had longer hair, could withstand cold weather more easily, and most importantly, they were loyal to changing “owners.”
By the beginning of World War II, German Shepherds made up the majority of working dogs in almost all major armies of the world. Of course, they also prevailed in the Wehrmacht, where there were significantly more shepherd dogs than representatives of other breeds - Dobermans, Rottweilers, Giant Schnauzers. The first German shepherd to die in combat during World War II was a dog named Bobby, who served as a signalman in the French army. In March 1940, he carried a report across the front line and was shot by German machine guns. Already at night, French soldiers, risking their own lives, took the body of the dog from the battlefield and buried it.
On the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, German shepherds also performed a variety of tasks - they took part in clearing mines and carrying out acts of sabotage, rescued the wounded from the battlefield, guarded the locations of military units, escorted prisoners of war, and delivered reports. But, besides German shepherds, shepherds of other breeds also fought. Scottish Shepherd Collies are considered to be quite gentle and obedient dogs. But they also found a place in the war. A collie named Dick actually went through the entire war. He was called up for service in August 1941. 
The meek dog had every chance of becoming either a signalman or an orderly, but Dick began to be trained in mine detection. He was assigned to the 2nd separate special service regiment "Keletsky", in which he traveled the roads of the Great Patriotic War until the very end of the war. Dick discovered more than 12 thousand mines. Literally an hour before the explosion, Dick managed to find a land mine weighing 2.5 tons with a clock mechanism, laid in the foundation of the Pavlovsk Palace. If it weren't for the simple Scottish Collie, then the palace would fly into the air. After the victory, the dog Dick returned home to his owner and, although he had numerous battle wounds, he repeatedly participated in dog shows, lived to a ripe old age and was buried, as befits a real soldier, with military honors.
In 1946, a modification of the German Shepherd, bred in the USSR, received the name East European Shepherd. This proposal was made by General Grigory Panteleimonovich Medvedev, perhaps the only “canine general” in the world who made a huge contribution to the development of Soviet service dog breeding. The East European Shepherd was bred from the early 1930s on the basis of those German shepherds that already lived in the Soviet Union, and the change in name was dictated primarily by political factors.
At the same time, the import of German shepherds to the USSR continued after the war. East European Shepherds are quite different from the traditional Western German Shepherd standard. However, these differences do not in any way affect the performance qualities of the breed. Together with German shepherds, East European shepherds throughout the second half of the twentieth century served in the Soviet and then Russian army, in the internal and border troops, in customs, in the police, in security and rescue services, and were used for the needs of the national economy. They remain in demand to this day.
Nowadays, the Belgian Malinois is gaining popularity in police services around the world, which has proven itself well in the search for narcotic substances. It is interesting that in the German police force, Belgian Shepherds have recently almost replaced German Shepherds. For example, in the police force of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, there are only 26 German shepherds for 281 Belgian Shepherds. What is the reason for this change in priorities? Police dog handlers claim that the Belgian Shepherd is the optimal combination of price and quality.
German Shepherds fit for service today are very expensive, they are quickly snapped up by the most respectable buyers - from representatives of the Bundeswehr to foreign emissaries from the American army. The Belgian Shepherd is no less courageous and obedient, very smart, but costs less. Famous for the Belgian Shepherd Leo. The dog served for nine years at the customs post at Amsterdam Airport in the Netherlands, discovering 3 tons of hashish, 1 ton of marijuana, 28 kilograms of heroin and 18 kilograms of cocaine over the years of service and participating in the arrests of about 300 drug dealers.
Caucasian Shepherds are also used in the police service, although their use is more specific - guarding and escorting detained criminals. Here the “Caucasians” have always been at their best, which is quite understandable - their impressive appearance and ferocious disposition in themselves have a good effect on the detainees.
Despite the fact that in modern world As robots and various technical devices based on the advantages of artificial intelligence are increasingly used, the need for service dogs continues. And in first place among man’s four-legged friends are shepherd dogs, wonderful companions, security guards, police officers and guides.
