AHC: more working dogs in modern society?

http://www.epilepsy.com/get-help/staying-safe/seizure-dogs

' . . . However, getting a dog with the special skill of recognizing seizures in advance is another matter. Any claims by trainers that they can produce this type of behavior in a dog should be looked at very carefully, especially when the training is expensive. While some people report success, others have been disappointed. More research is needed to better understand what dogs can and cannot do, . . . '
Okay, they're trying to be realistic and honest about what dogs can do.

A person with epilepsy can be a lot more confident going out in public and going about their regular life if they have a service dog who's there to protect and comfort them as they're waking up. And this is a considerable benefit.
 
Hunting & guard or defense dogs have been with us from the start. Still in use.
But I'm surprised at the relatively limited extent. For example, any time you're doing search and rescue and looking for a human being without a dog, I think you're at a disadvantage.

And this is one of the area where dogs seemingly have been re-introduced.
 
Seizure-Assistance-Dog2.jpg


http://4pawsforability.org/seizure-assistance-dog/

' . . . Sometimes the child who has extensive seizures must wear a helmet to protect from falls when playing on the playground, or while playing with the neighborhood kids, or during school recess. These circumstances can, and often do, lead to isolation. The children who lack understanding of the child’s “difference” from them often avoid the child who experiences seizures. Even young children that have friends may find themselves left behind by their peers as they get older if the seizures limit their activities or result in cognitive delays.

'However, there are few children who don’t like dogs, and the miracles that occur when children with disabilities enter the playgrounds with their service dogs is amazing. The service dog breaks the ice. Children will come to pet the dog, and in doing so there is an opportunity to get to know the child and understand the associated disability rather than avoiding the unknown. . . '
Parents can know about this second additional advantage of a service dog!

But I think it might work better if the child doesn't know. ;)
 
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Dogs for tracking humans has been continual. Any correctly trained hunting/tracking dog can do it.
But I think a lot of police K-9 units have been expanded or re-introduced from the beginning in the last couple of decades. Now, a lot of this is probably due to drugs, which is regrettable in my universe.

But I bet you hear about in the media the occasional search for a lost person which is performed without a dog. Which is kind of amazing once we think about it.
 
Meet Lajki, the new K-9 unit in Allegan County [Michigan], May 24, 2017

http://www.hollandsentinel.com/news...-county?&_suid=149753243392407940241722390056

' . . . But last week, Lajki caught his first “bad guy.” He’s the newest addition to the Allegan County Sheriff’s Office, and he and his handler Deputy Mike Martin spend their shifts together tracking down fleeing suspects and sniffing out narcotics.

'Lajki is from Poland and became a deputy in the sheriff’s office after a long plane ride and more than a month of training with Martin. . . '
From the below webpage of the Sheriff's Department, this new officer and dog team will be added to four existing teams.
 
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K9_Teams.jpg


K-9 Teams

http://cms.allegancounty.org/sheriff/Patrol/K9/SitePages/Home.aspx

'The Allegan County Sheriff’s Office has had a formalized K-9 Unit since the early 1980’s, when the Allegan County Law Enforcement Association (ACLEA) donated funds to purchase a canine for the department.

'The purchase of subsequent dogs and training aids has historically been done through grants, citizen donations, and drug forfeiture proceeds. The only expenses to the taxpayers are for dog food and veterinary services. . . '
Notice the re-introduction of dogs in the early '80s.

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And just for the record, I for one do not consider drug forfeiture money to be cost-free to the taxpayers. There's a loss of civil liberties, which potential affects each and every citizen. I wish more people had bravely spoken up in the '80s.

And the irony is, probably each and every one of these officers would be a great person to share a beer with, or a soft drink with.
 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ence-jumping-intruder/?utm_term=.c11070ff9f36

' . . . The Secret Service has had a canine team since 1976, when it was created to stop suicide bombers. The dogs train for 20 weeks before they start working and then do eight hours a week of retraining for the rest of their professional lives. . . '
Okay, a logical reason to re-introduce dogs to the Secret Service at a particular time. But I think there'd be plenty of other reasons to have dogs there all along.
 
Was reminded that in the 19th & early 20th Century firefighters kept search dogs for rapid recon of burning buildings. No idea how sucessful it was, but by the 1950s the practice seems to have stopped.

...

And just for the record, I for one do not consider drug forfeiture money to be cost-free to the taxpayers. There's a loss of civil liberties, which potential affects each and every citizen. I wish more people had bravely spoken up in the '80s.

And the irony is, probably each and every one of these officers would be a great person to share a beer with, or a soft drink with.


I've seen estimates of between 5% & 10% of forfetured property/funds are connected to false convictions. Different stats vary, but the conviction overturn rate in drug cases appears to be over 5%. have to wonder how many of those recovered the value of forfeitured property from the courts?
 
Was reminded that in the 19th & early 20th Century firefighters kept search dogs for rapid recon of burning buildings. No idea how sucessful it was, but by the 1950s the practice seems to have stopped.
More so than dogs in other occupations, some of these fire recon dogs would be lost on a fairly regular basis. And that would be a hard thing to take.
 
I've seen estimates of between 5% & 10% of forfetured property/funds are connected to false convictions. Different stats vary, but the conviction overturn rate in drug cases appears to be over 5%. have to wonder how many of those recovered the value of forfeitured property from the courts?
I have a lot of mixed feelings regarding all this. For example, just on the baseline issue of drugs, I'm strongly anti-cocaine and think it's pretty destructive shit, and at the same time I'm anti-war on drugs as misguided in a number of ways. As far as RICO and so forth, criminal organizations basically have figured out ways to beat the system, where the underlings take most of the legal risk, but not the leaders. All the same, asset forfeiture makes policing a growth industry and that's not a healthy dynamic.

I welcome medium-step suggestions on how to bend the curve! :)
 
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