K9s breakdown by breed

[BR870]

I saw a picture of a Belgian Malinois police K9 in Frankfurt Germany, and that got me to thinking...

So I know these days that the Belgian Malinois is becoming quite popular for K9 work. How common are they as compared to the GSD? Around here the GSD is still quite a bit more common, but what about other places? Also, why don't we see many Dutch Shepherds, Belgian Shepherds, or Tervurens used for K9 work?

So, on average what percentage of police and military K9s are GSDs, what percentage are BMs, and what are others?

[Fast]

Police ditching the German Shepherd for Belgian breed - The Local

[DFrost]

Good question. I know I'm seeing more and more mals myself. I'm not a particular fan of the mal, I just don't think they are that good a looking dog, but it's purely personal. I have more mals than GSD's, Wish it weren't so, but when you are restricted by what's available, your options are limited. My current class, due to graduate September 9, 2011 is two GSD's, 3 Dutchies and one mal. Still have more mals than any other breed.

DFrost

[ladylaw203]

Mals have been popular for some years and the Dutchie quickly gaining popularity. The reasons are that it is very hard to find the retrieve drive in the GSD for scent detection work in bulk. ANy given day there are tons of folks overseas from all countries buying dogs. They are getting harder to find. Mals and Dutchies are more agile, live longer and have the retrieve drive for dual purpose training. Less hip issues too. Down side is that there are a lot of nervy ones out there. When one is buying in bulk as vendors do, it is easier,quicker and cheaper to import Mals.