“The dogs are trained to be vicious and it could have been prevented.”
Your statement is incorrect.
I have worked with police dogs and handlers. These dogs are trained to be aggressive ON COMMAND and to STOP their aggression ON COMMAND. Most commands are spoken by the handlers in German so that there will be no “accidental” orders from “pain-in-the-butt bystanders”. There is a BIG difference between aggression and viciousness. If a dog is ordered to take someone down and does it, THAT is aggression. He then stops being aggressive on command. Viciousness is if the dog continues the attack after being commanded to stop. Police dogs who exhibit viciousness are a liability and should not be placed on the street.
Any dog that chews the foot off of a child is a vicious dog and should be put down.
I agree. I have spent a lot of time training these types of dogs, old line dobes, german shepherds, malinois, etc. A good one will be social with everyone, but bite on command immediately, then ‘out’ on command, calmly and immediately. One that is vicious is not suitable for a police or military working dog.
One thing you did make a mistake on is commands in German. They are often in German because Schutzhund, IPO, etc competitions use German commands because they originated there. Many of the Malinois come from Holland, and they are taught commands in Dutch, mine are taught in English, cause, that’s the language here. German trainers train in German not English. The dogs cannot be given accidental orders, they listen to their handler, he it the top dog.
For example, if I am home, my malinois will totally ignore any commands, even from my wife, or son. If my 9 year old granddaughter takes her out, she will obey her commands, a stranger, not a chance in hell. That is a common misconception, but dogs are normally trained in the language of the trainer, other than like I said, it is common to use German in sport dogs, because it’s traditional. German trainers don’t train in Cantonese, or Spanish. The dogs only respond to their family. Mine is 3.5 years old, has done bitework since 6 months and is easily handled safely by my grandchildren, but if I am around strangers, who are known to do stupid things around dogs, she gets a muzzle. I think she’s safe, but that’s not something to take a chance on.
You are absolutely correct that aggressive and vicious are completely different. K9 units don’t tolerate vicious, unpredictable animals, a social animal that is well-trained is what they are looking for. The Mals and dutch shepherds tend to be that way, but love to bite, it is more of a sport with them.