what is meant by single purpose dog?

[eddie1976E]

Can someone please explain what a single purpose dog is? What would it be suitable for? Can single purpose dogs be good family companions or are they too hyper and need to be worked?

thanks

[Emoore]

I believe (somebody correct me if I'm wrong) that single-purpose dog is used in the types of dogs that are marketed to security and law enforcement. It means the dog is a patrol dog, but not a detection dog, or a detection but not patrol, etc.

[carmspack]

a dog that is a specialist --

dogs that are detection -- bomb dogs , narcotic dogs, bed bug detection , SAR, not requiring bite or apprehension

[eddie1976E]

thanks for the explanation. So dual purpose would be a dog that can do all the things mentioned above and bite/apprehension?

Carmspack, would a single purpose dog be a good dog for a family that has moderate activity (hiking/ball play with dog, etc)?

[carmspack]

could you explain why you are using single purpose in relation to pet?

often a single purpose dog may be a dog that has a redirection in career . For example a dog that has passed all the requirements for nerve, drive, orthopedics, health, etc etc. but the dog may be too friendly , fail to engage a "bad guy" , fight drive , aggression just not there . Now we are talking about GSD that are supposed to be able to control a situation , to hold , and hold by bite if necessary.
This dog may have a career as a specialized detection dog.

Some categories are so demanding and requiring so much accuracy and precision (bomb/explosive) that these are single purpose , no confusion .

A golden retriever would not have this requirement as this is not part of the breed profile , nor an expectation.

Some dogs are very very effective as search and apprehend , or SWAT , others have talent enough to train and certify them as competent in detection and apprehension , so they are "dual" .

Has someone tried to promote something to you. Tell more about your situation.

Carmen
Carmspack Working German Shepherd Dogs

[GSDElsa]

This is really an "it depends" type situation. Was it a single purpose apprehension dog who washed because of weak nerves? Or like Carmen said because too friendly?

Was it a detection dog that washed because the hutn drive just wasn't quite what it should be and protection wasn't his thing?

Too many variables IMO without a LOT more details.

[eddie1976E]

Carmen- I saw on a breeders site that said "several great single purpose dogs available", so I thought, what makes them great and what is single purpose. Could the things that make them great single purpose also make them a great family companion? I'm trying to understand the lingo and get a feel for what people mean when they say single/dual purpose, etc.

Thanks

[hunterisgreat]

wouldn't/couldn't you also extend that to describe people have have pet/sport dogs, and those that have dogs that are exclusively sport and stay in the kennel when not trained?

[DFrost]

Originally Posted by eddie1976E

Carmen- I saw on a breeders site that said "several great single purpose dogs available", so I thought, what makes them great and what is single purpose. Could the things that make them great single purpose also make them a great family companion? I'm trying to understand the lingo and get a feel for what people mean when they say single/dual purpose, etc.

Thanks

From a law enforcement perspective, "single purpose" means the dog is trained to perform one job. As one poster mentioned, that may be explosives, drug, cadaver detection. It could mean a patrol dog (one that finds people and will do apprehensions.) A dual purpose is one that is trained as a patrol dog in addition to being some type of detector dog. When purchasing untrained dogs, single purpose potential dogs are usually considerably cheaper than buying dual purpose potential dogs. the same is true for buying trained dogs. Some departments use a mixture of single purpose and dual purpose dogs, depending on their enforcement agenda. Generally speaking, the dogs we (police trainers) are looking for as single purpose are not always the best candidates for a home pet. The drives are over the top, they are extremely active and just not always a good fit in a house situation without a very active outlet for some of the energy.

DFrost

[Emoore]

Originally Posted by eddie1976E

Carmen- I saw on a breeders site that said "several great single purpose dogs available",

I believe that this means these dogs are young adults and have had some training in scent detection or whatever. I don't know that you'd want to shell out the $$ that a good bomb- or drug- or cadaver- dog generally goes for just to get a nice pet. If you're looking for an adult dog, please consider rescue.