[RottsNScotts]

Hi and welcome! Having been a police officer, canine handler and now own/handle/train my own dogs for sport and show (injury retirement), I need to recommend that you separate your law enforcement career from your dog search in your mind. They should be totally separate goals in your mind. The best canine handlers are those people who were outstanding officers on their own and it takes time and dedication to accomplish that as you are starting, let alone raise a working patrol/SAR dog on top of it.

In addition, I can't address SAR dogs, having never worked one but I can tell you that no successful patrol dog was EVER a "beta" dog! Also, I have known several very successful female police dogs. The main reason you don't see many isn't their reluctance to leave their handler but that any female good enough to be a working patrol dog is generally kept for breeding unless she has a serious disqualifying fault, such as too many missing teeth; in that case she would be spayed and worked.

There are very few neutered male police dogs; generally, if they are neutered, it is in response to a specific problem and, I have to say, I didn't see it make much difference to the dog I knew that was WAY over the top. He was STILL way over the top after neutering - they had to line his patrol car in metal because he got so nuts, he would chew anything in reach! GSD with a female handler VBG!

I take my pups in to the vet's weekly for a weigh in, cookies and a scratch from the very beginning. That is why, to this day, when I have one dog in the vet's, the other 3 are in the van yelling that they want to come in too! I haven't been charged for this either as the staff and vets know that I am just making their life easier later!