German Police Dogs to Wear Shoes

Mon Feb 25, 2008 8:40 AM EST
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BERLIN — Police dogs in the western city of Duesseldorf will no longer get their feet dirty when on patrol — the entire dog unit will soon be equipped with blue plastic fiber shoes, a police spokesman said Monday.

"All 20 of our police dogs — German and Belgian shepherds — are currently being trained to walk in these shoes," Andre Hartwich said. "I'm not sure they like it, but they'll have to get used to it."

The unusual footwear is not a fashion statement, Hartwich said, but rather a necessity due to the high rate of paw injuries on duty. Especially in the city's historical old town — famous for both its pubs and drunken revelers — the dogs often step into broken beer bottles.

"Even the street-cleaning doesn't manage to remove all the glass pieces from between the streets' cobble stones," Hartwich said, adding that the dogs frequently get injured by little pieces sticking deep in their paws.

The dogs will start wearing the shoes this spring but only during operations that demand special foot protection. The shoes comes in sizes small, medium and large and were ordered in blue to match the officers uniforms, Hartwich said.

"Now we just have to teach the dogs how to tie their shoes," he joked.

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{"commentId":1505788,"authorDomain":"bigmomma"}
rottlady
plastic fiber shoes

I'm wondering how these are going to protect the dogs from glass?

{"commentId":1505788,"threadId":"224797","contentId":"1323877","authorDomain":"bigmomma"}
  • 1 vote
Reply#1 - Mon Feb 25, 2008 9:57 AM EST
{"commentId":1505860,"authorDomain":"kirklennon"}
Kirk Lennon

I picture something like a laptop bag or luggage. The right fiber woven the right way can stop a bullet; glass shouldn't be a problem.

{"commentId":1505860,"threadId":"224797","contentId":"1323877","authorDomain":"kirklennon"}
  • 1 vote
#1.1 - Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:20 AM EST
{"commentId":1505913,"authorDomain":"TeddRi"}
Tedd Riggs

Only in Düsseldorf, the Paris of Germany :-) They do love their dogs, you can take dogs more places then you can take kids.

{"commentId":1505913,"threadId":"224797","contentId":"1323877","authorDomain":"TeddRi"}
  • 1 vote
#1.2 - Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:30 AM EST
{"commentId":1505914,"authorDomain":"bigmomma"}
rottlady

Kirk your probably right, I was visualizing plastic like a raincoat....silly me!

{"commentId":1505914,"threadId":"224797","contentId":"1323877","authorDomain":"bigmomma"}
  • 2 votes
#1.3 - Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:31 AM EST
{"commentId":1505928,"authorDomain":"TeddRi"}
Tedd Riggs

Don't forget most boats are made out of fiberglass, the stuff is very tough and you don't need much to make it glass proof especially with a dog's weight spread out over 4 paws.

{"commentId":1505928,"threadId":"224797","contentId":"1323877","authorDomain":"TeddRi"}
  • 2 votes
#1.4 - Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:35 AM EST
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{"commentId":1520186,"authorDomain":"steviebarker"}
barkerdvm

What an awesome idea with an obvious design flaw. These paw coverings probably do offer good physical protection but might also be restrictive. A dog's paw is more akin to a hand than a hoof. Dogs spread the digits during climbing, digging and for traction on challenging surfaces. The nails are also important for these tasks. These new doggie treads seem more akin to baker's mitts than the high performance footwear these amazing K9's require. Granted it would likely be more expensive and would require customized sizing for each dog if the paw-guards were more like "tipless gloves", but I think it would make this concept work for the dogs and departments alike. I also could imagine that some chafing and skin irritation (no matter what the design) may result from this new venture. Bottom-line: great idea with a lot of potential. Just need to free up those toes.

{"commentId":1520186,"threadId":"224797","contentId":"1323877","authorDomain":"steviebarker"}
    Reply#2 - Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:37 PM EST
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