K-9s
K-9 Facts
Breeds used for K-9 work
• German Shepherd Dogs (GSD)
• Dutch Shepherds
• Belgian Malinois
• Labrador Retriever
• Bloodhound
• Australian Cattle Dog
• German Short Hair Pointer
Police Utility / Patrol Dog – certified in the following
individual categories:
• Obedience
• Article Search
• Evidence Recovery
• Area Search
• Tracking/Trailing
• Building Search
• Criminal Apprehension/Recall
• Narcotics (Drugs) Detection
• Explosives (Bomb) Detection
• Accelerant (Arson) Detection
• Cadaver Search
Where do Police dogs come from?
k-9 TEAM of the month: JULY 2025
LONGMEADOW POLICE
K-9 REUBEN &
K-9 Sgt Vanessa Vanbuskirk
K-9 Reuben is a 3 Year Old German Shepherd certified in Patrol & Narcotics Detection
K-9 VEST Facts
• A bullet-protective K9 vest is $1,900-$2,900 each..
• The K9 Storm™ bullet/stab-protective tactical vest ($2500) for Massachusetts K-9 patrol teams that are actively assigned to a tactical team or regularly train in tactical deployment.
• Made of same ballistic material as human officer vests.
• Weighs approximately 6 lbs.
• The vest padding also protects against blunt force trauma,
from the impact of a shoe, fist or other object.
• Vests do not inhibit the K-9’s movement. The K-9s wear the
vests in training exercises so they are ready and able to do
their work while wearing the vest.
• A K-9 vest is not worn like a uniform, but rather only as needed.
• The K-9s’ Handler (police officer partner) will put the vest
on the K-9 when there is an increased danger level.
Vesting Programs
Massachusetts K-9s are put on our waiting list on a first-come, first served basis. If your K-9 needs a vest, please contact us at info@mavestadog.org and we will put you and your K-9 on the list.
Vest Replacement Policy
Massachusetts Vest-a Dog, Inc. began providing protective K-9 vests in 2000. Some of the K-9s we vested have retired; their vest can be passed onto their K-9 replacement.
If the new dog does not fit into the vest used by the previous dog, we are willing to order a suitable replacement vest. Should the original vest still be within the warranty period, we will take the vest back, to be given to a K-9 on our wait list (with the condition that we will replace that vest).
Just like human vests, manufacturer’s warranty K-9 vests for 5 years. We have asked handler recipients to include the replacement K-9 vest in their budget.
Our hope is that the handler will be able to secure the replacement vest funding by telling of situations that he/she has had to use the protective K-9 vest.
However, we realize that vests are still being used that have expired warranties, and therefore, we now welcome handlers whose K-9s vest is over 5 years old to apply for a replacement vest.
Handlers will need to provide the vest manufacture date (found on the liner or inside the liner on the ballistic material), when they request being placed on the Replacement Wait List.
