Auf wiedersehen pet: Police dog handlers are learning to speak German so the foreign animals can understand them
Posted on 01/11/2008 3:58:02 AM PST by Stoat
Auf wiedersehen pet: Police dog handlers are learning to speak German so the foreign animals can understand them
A shortage of highly-trained dogs in Britain has forced police forces to look elsewhere, and Alsatians from Germany seem to be the pick of the bunch.
Handlers believe they are more obedient and responsive to orders such as "bissen" for bite which prove useful on the hunt for criminals.
But the move has had its complications - dog-handlers in 17 British police forces have had to learn German so that they can make the animals understand them.
Dog trainer PC David Heaps, of Derbyshire Constabulary, said he had learnt some basic German words to control his dogs, which he said were often a better behaved than English ones.
He said: "For breeders in the UK it is all about looks. But the dogs do not have the same abilities for bite, let go and obedience as those bred in Germany."
A quarter of all police dogs from the Derbyshire force now come from Germany, and cost £2,000 each.
Handlers have had to learn commands include 'sitz' - meaning sit - and 'platz' for down. To tell them to let go they shout 'aus', while 'holen' means fetch, and 'bissen', bite.
Two of the Derbyshire dogs, Eeko and Nero, kept their German names while another has been re-named Flick, after the character Herr Flick in the BBC sitcom Allo Allo.
Another police dog-handler, who has worked with the German-trained pooches, said: "It was quite fun learning a new language.
"It's amazing how quick they are to respond as soon as you utter a German command, but when you say 'let go' in English they just look at you like you are crazy.
"But as soon as you say 'Aus' they drop whatever they are holding like a shot."
The learning is a two-way process, however, with the dogs also being taught English in the hope they will ultimately become "bilingual" and respond to both languages.
A Derbyshire police spokeswoman said: "I know we have got three and we speak German to them but they are now learning English. We are repeating the German commands in English so they are becoming bilingual."
Despite their hefty price tag, bosses say the dogs are good value because they are already trained in obedience and biting to apprehend crooks.
Eric Wight, of the Hollies Dog Training Centre in Cheshire, said "pure work strand" dogs in Germany have to undergo a strict breeding regime and are tested for tracking, search and protection abilities.
Mr Wight, who provides canines for cops and the Armed Forces, said other forces to request or receive dogs include Cheshire, City of London, Gloucestershire, Devon and Cornwall and Essex.
Others include Humberside, Kent, Leicestershire, Merseyside, Northumbria, Nottinghamshire, South Wales, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and Wiltshire.
Ping :-)
About ten years ago I ran across some people who were importing German Shepherds from the former Soviet Bloc countries. They said they were generally superior genetically to the Western breeds because of the irresponsible breeding practices in the West, and they were indeed fine animals. They were selling trained attack/guard dogs for 5 grand USD at the time. I’ll bet it’s double that now.
Damn. I never update my ping list for home. Always forget to forward it from work.
It’s not at all unusual for “our people” in the US to use German commands. I think both police as well as definitely the “sport” people. Platz, sitz, fuss are all common.
Those aren’t unusual prices. Often now we’re paying up to $2000 for a young PUPPY from these types; as trained adults, definitely $10k +.
Actually, there is always concern about any communist lines, because their pedigrees were often FRAUDULENT. Most of what the Schutzhund people concern themselves with from commie places were the “DDR dogs” (East Germany) and Czech dogs. Many are fans, but there is the precaution that we can’t really rely on the old pedigrees.
I’ve always wanted a German shepherd and if I got one I would teach it commands in German. Sitz! Platz! Komm!
Also I’d teach the Siberian husky I’ve wanted commands in Russian.
Not being a dog owner, I had no idea. That's quite interesting, thank you :-)
Also I’d teach the Siberian husky I’ve wanted commands in Russian.
That sounds like great fun! You'd be a hit when you're out with your dog in public :-)
GERMAN SHEPHERD PING LIST
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A fantastic way to train German Shepherds. Recommended!
Even for dogs from English speaking countries?
I don't have a dog, so I'm curious.
> It’s not at all unusual for “our people” in the US to use German commands. I think both police as well as definitely the “sport” people. Platz, sitz, fuss are all common.
There are excellent training reasons for doing so. The German-language “requests” are short, unique and in a language that is uncommon in day-to-day-use in the US/UK/NZ/OZ/CDN &tc and less likely to be confused with anything else: so a good audio cue for your GSD that it is time to go to work.
Couple that with a different tone of voice to what you usually use in conversation (make it friendly and up-beat: you don’t need to sound like a Hun POW Commandant even tho’ German lends itself to sounding harsh) and the GSD will find it even easier to do as it is being requested to do.
GSDs actually don’t follow “commands” they fulfil “requests” — they can actually understand spoken, free-form English and a do a whole lot more if you work conscientiously at it.
During downtime (not training, not working) speak kindly and conversationally with the GSD, starting with short simple sentences with short words. It won’t be long before they clearly link what you are saying with what you are doing — even if you switch around the word order, or use different words.
They are truly amazing animals.
And yeah, I *do* call them “Commands” usually, because everyone does. But that is not what is actually going on in the GSD’s mind, and it also gives people the wrong impression of how to articulate what they want their GSD to do. Particularly when they start training them in German.
That’s very interesting, thank you very much :-)
> Even for dogs from English speaking countries?
Yup, absolutely — or more accurately, *especially*. As I mentioned in above, a different language is a great audio cue for your German Shepherd that you are talking to *her* and that you’d like her to do something. Words like “sit” and “drop” and “down” occur all the time in day-to-day English, and the poor GSD has to somehow figure out the difference between hearing Master say those words in conversation and carrying out a request from Master.
Imagine using the word “dump!” for the command used to tell your GSD that you would like her to immediately evacuate her bowels (a great thing to be able to do, if say you are about to go on a long car trip)...
...you could probably imagine the havoc and carpet-cleaning bills that could easily result!
Same principle applies.
That all makes sense. Thanks again :-)
Oh absolutely. It’s all aboot the accent, eh?
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