Jaguar, a nine-month-old dog, could soon become Taiwan’s first indigenous breed police dog.
New Taipei City Police Criminal Investigation Corps K-9 unit head Ma Ching-chi (馬清基) said Jaguar is being trained to detect explosives such as gunpowder and C-4.
Ma on Thursday said that this is the first attempt in Taiwan to train a Taiwan dog, also known as the Formosan mountain dog, to become a police canine.
Photo courtesy of New Taipei City Police Criminal Investigation Corps K-9 unit via CNA
Police dogs are typically trained from breeds such as German shepherds and Labrador retrievers.
Ma said he had always wanted to train dogs that are indigenous to Taiwan to become police dogs.
He chose Jaguar for trial training from the puppies a colleague’s dog gave birth to, Ma said.
Jaguar performs well during training, Ma said, adding that the dog can locate explosives precisely and is not afraid of loud noises or unfamiliar situations.
Jaguar’s performance across the board has exceeded expectations and he is not falling behind German shepherds or Labrador retrievers, he said.
If all goes well with training, Jaguar would become Taiwan’s first indigenous police dog, reporting for duty at about age two, Ma said.
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