German wolves are still among the most preferred breeds in the world. The second most common K-9 dog breed is the Belgian Malinoi. These dogs are similar to German wolves but smaller and more flamboyant.
Have you ever wondered why these dogs are called K-9 and why German wolves are more preferred in these units?
Before moving on to the answers to these questions, let’s start with a brief introduction to K-9 dogs.
Historically, the Greeks, Persians, Babylonians, and Assyrians were the first cultures to use dogs in policing.
Officially, the K-9’s breed, which was first used in the special unit established by the New York Police Department in 1907, was the German shepherd dog, the German shepherd. In the following years, the K-9s, which were used in the 1st World War, the 2nd World War, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, came to the fore with their contributions that could change the course of the wars.
But why are German wolves more preferred for these tasks?
Thanks to their sharp noses, German wolves can easily distinguish between explosives, drugs and corpses. In addition, compared to other dog breeds, the fact that they are not easily distracted during the task and that they focus on their work seriously are the most important elements of their selection for this task. That is why German wolves are still among the most preferred breeds in the world for use in these tasks.
It has been proven that K-9s, whose training period lasts for approximately 10 weeks, can easily distinguish people who are identical twins after this training. The unit salary of a K-9 who has working principles such as “working 20 minutes and resting 40 minutes” or “frequent changing of the guard” is considerably higher than the salary of a minimum wage employee.
Now let’s come to our main question, where does the name “K-9” come from?
“Canine” is a Latin word meaning dog in English. This word is pronounced as “key-nayn” in English. When the letter K(key) and the number 9(nine) are read together, it gives the sound of “key-nayn”, that is, it is homophonic. For this reason, the dogs of this unit in the police force are named with the code K-9. In linguistics, such words are called “homophone words”.
Based on such content, we recommend the movie Ruby the Rescue Dog for those who want to know more about K-9 dogs and watch something that evokes warm feelings.
The movie, which is based on a true event, has a very touching story. Have a good time already.
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