Just as the title says. We have had several “trained” GSD’s in our lives and would love another…and have a lovely horse farm home, retired, “stay at home working” owners and 65 acres of dog safe fencing and the dogs are in and out with us 24/7 with slight exceptions. We don’t NEED a protection dog…but I enjoy having one highly trained and obedient…don’t want to start out with a pup at my age. It would seem a good situation for a retiring hero dog. Input anyone??
Many agencies won’t easily adopt out retired LEO-trained K-9s. They, yes, are will trained, but they have also been trained to bite people. That makes many of them a liability.
Most LEO agencies will retire their K-9s out to the LEO the dog last worked with. Most LEO K-9s go home with their “person” and live with the LEO and their family.
I have heard in the past for military K-9s that live in kennels on base, they may be euthanized once they are retired as again, they really aren’t suitable for living with the public based on their training.
I would contact LEO agencies and military in your area and see what their retirement policy for their K-9s.
Might be better off looking for some of the companies that train K-9s and see what happens to their trainees that wash out of LEO K-9 school.
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Thanks. I keep getting posts from a K9 “Placement Agency” in Pa. Too far from Texas, but was just wondering…Our Personal Protection GSD was EXTREMELY well behaved…hardly even wore a leash even in strange crowds and NEVER bit anyone in his 14 years with us. These dogs are not aggressive/nasty…and ours had a German attack command…nothing that would turn up in daily conversation. When he “alerted”…he froze… pressed into my leg and stared at the “problem”. Ours was not a barker either. When he barked…it was terrifying…but he never stepped forward aggressively. In my experience (pp dogs, not military) these dogs are highly trained to do their job…not a threat to society or normal visitors. I was just wondering if others had adopted a retiree.
I am not familiar with what skills a personal protection dog is trained to perform but LE dogs are trained to bite (unless they are drug/bomb dogs only). They are also trained to release but the possibility is always there they they will bite since they have been trained to. They aren’t trained for "protection’, they are trained for searches and takedowns (in addition to any potential sniff work).
I’m wondering if the K9 placement is placing the washout dogs as not all dogs are suitable for K-9 work. The agencies I am familiar with let their K-9s be retired with their last handler (since a handler may retire before the K-9 is ready to be retired).
I’d contact that ‘placement agency’ to see what they have since they might have the perfect dog for you. Actual retired LE K-9s might be less "desirable’ and higher risk (and may not impress your homeowner’s insurance company 
).
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I belong to this Facebook group and these dogs are adopted out of Lackland Airforce Base in TX:
https://missionk9rescue.org/military-and-contract-working-dog-adoptions/
Thanks. We’re not in the market for another dog at this time…just asking questions. IMO…no trained dog is “permitted” to bite arbitrarily at his own discresion…other than “junk yard dogs”!! A “personal protection trained dog” is just a higher skilled "watch/guard dog with keener responses. Our dog was trained to be a police K-9, but the owner/trainer needed a more advanced skills dog that included drug searching/detecting skills. Our dog was highly trained for obedience and tracking…and attacking on command. He was NOT trained to attack at will…he would hold/guard unless sent. If we adopt…it would only be for a retired dog needing a good retirement home…(No flunk outs desired!!) We are not in a high risk area…big horse farms do not have home owners associations!! What does LE stand for??
Thanks. That was one that I was looking for.
LE = Law Enforcement
LEO = Law Enforcement Officer
Glad to hear that security dogs are being adopted out from the military. LE often get to keep their dog when the dog retires and the officer is often rotated out of the K-9 unit.
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My neighbor was a LEO and he retired when his dog retired. Their PD retires the dogs with full medical benefits for the rest of their lives. I will say that he always said my dogs were more trustworthy around people and other animals than his dog. his dog was well trained to stay in his yard (10 acres), but he never took the dog for walks.
StG
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Sometimes, depends on the agency, if the dog is young enough they may place the dog with a new handler if the original handler retires. Down side I’ve heard of this is the bond between the second handler is never as strong as with the first handling. But, the dogs are too expensive to want to retire if they have many working years left.
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Actually, in this instance, the dog was ready to retire, and instead of breaking in a new dog for a year or two, the neighbor took retirement, too.
StG
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when I was a baby, we adopted a german shepherd who failed out of police academy. He would not go after humans, but he was dog aggressive. He was the best dog ever, but unfortunately we couldn’t keep him because he would jump the fence and attack neighborhood dogs. My mom could not handle that and I think someone turned us in… i was just a baby and he was excellent with me…I am not sure what happened to him…
