On the job, I was only bitten by a dog once. It was a chihuahua with an attitude. Fortunately, his bite didn’t penetrate my uniform pants. Other officers I knew didn’t fare so well. One friend of mine got shot when his partner fired his gun at a Pit Bull Terrier that was running toward them. One of his partner’s rounds fragmented when it struck the concrete walkway and a piece of shrapnel caused a wound to his foot—toe, actually, but foot sounds more manly.
Now, I don’t know if this story conveys more a fear of dogs or of trigger-happy partners, but there you have it. Anyway, I understand the fear-factor some people have with dogs (illustrated by my harrowing chihuahua story courageously recounted above). Therefore, the TSA’s announcement that it plans to use friendlier-looking “floppy-eared” rather than mean-looking “pointy-eared” bomb-sniffing dogs to check airport passenger waiting lines is probably a good thing—at least, an okay thing.
On average, I travel by air a few times a year. So, I don’t have to deal with TSA frustrations regularly. However, on the occasions I’ve flown since 9/11, I’ve only had to deal with K9s deployed for bomb detection once. Incidentally, that was early last year, and the dog was floppy-eared.
However, full disclosure, while traveling back to the mainland from Hawaii several years back, my wife was snagged in a Department of Agriculture Beagle sting. I think she still has nightmares about the contraband peach incident. Seriously, though, floppy-eared Beagles are the K9 opposite of pointy-eared intimidation. German Shepherds, on the other hand, can be the very definition of intimidating. But for many law enforcement tasks, isn’t that the point?
I love German Shepherds and over the years have shared my home with several. My daughter has a beautiful German Shepherd. He is fierce-sounding and looking, protective toward strangers, but as gentle and friendly as can be with family, particularly her children, and friends. And my former police partner went to the K9 Unit before I retired, where he began working with a German Shepherd. In fact, this breed’s pointy-eared silhouette is often used to symbolize K9s on police vehicles and facilities.
A quick aside about my former partner: Should I take it personally when he brags about his dogs being the best partners he’s had during his career? At any rate, I’m sure he means “canine partner.”
So, my bias has me reluctant to admit it, but to be objective, German Shepherds can be intimidating to those not used to being around large dogs. Though a trained police dog is well socialized with people, including children, and other dogs, it can be intimidating because of its size and formidable, wolf-like appearance.
Though I know how gentle these dogs can be, law enforcement agencies, the military, and civilians for personal and home protection select this breed (and to a lesser extent Doberman Pincers, Belgian Malinois, and Rottweilers) for its intimidation characteristics. The intimidation factor is extremely advantageous when dealing with violent criminals. For certain law enforcment tasks, the dog needs to be large to have the physical strength to overcome resistant suspects.
Still, this intimidation factor is not as important in some security tasks such as explosives detection for the TSA. For example, using large intimidating dogs for people waiting in a TSA line is probably not necessary. Especially, because these lines include people who have a genuine fear of dogs, especially large dogs. Of particular concern is the fear experienced by children. Flying is already a huge stress for them. Being approached and sniffed by a large, scary-looking dog adds to that stress.
But there’s some good news for dog scaredy-cats—yes, I just went there. According to the LA Times, “TSA Administrator David Pekoske said the agency is also making at least one new change to reduce traveler stress: deploying more floppy-ear dogs, rather than pointy-ear dogs, to sniff out explosives in public areas.” He also said, “We find the passenger acceptance of floppy-ear dogs is just better. It presents just a little bit less of a concern. Doesn’t scare children.”
Though I love pointy-eared, “mean-looking” dogs, I’ll concede the point. Generally, floppy-eared dogs do appear friendlier. So, I encourage the TSA to do what it can to lower the stress that comes with post-9/11 air travel. And if any new methods and strategies also speed up the passenger waiting lines, of which the TSA says the new emphasis on floppy-eared friendly dogs is a part, I’m on board.
