Monolingual German police dogs / Britische Polizei muss Deutsch sprechen

It is widely reported today (and yesterday) that British police have been importing German shepherd dogs and are confronted with the need to say Sitz instead of sit or retrain the dogs to understand English commands. The stories are all apparently based on one Press Association report and most contain the examples: sitz: sit platz: down aus: let go holen: fetch bissen: bite Here's the Sun, for example (surprisingly free of anti-German sentiment). The Daily Mail goes into more detail: Another police dog-handler, who has worked with the German-trained pooches, said: "It was quite fun learning a new language. "It's amazing how quick they are to respond as soon as you utter a German command, but when you say 'let go' in English they just look at you like you are crazy. "But as soon as you say 'Aus' they drop whatever they are holding like a shot." The learning is a two-way process, however, with the dogs also being taught English in the hope they will ultima…