: Oh bull pucky, Ed. They use dogs because a) Many people are
: scared shitless of them and b) because of the nose and the
: vision and hearing. Without their cop partner in attendance,
: the dog is so much meat in the hands of any human with
: a bad attitude and al ittle training in violent force.

One of the things that police dogs are used for is to
"take the bullet" instead of the human police officer.
As Charles said, many people are scared of dogs and will
panic when one goes on attack.  They will then turn their 
weapon on the dog and this allows the police officer to
take control.

: Your advice is correct, but a dog is still no match for a trained
: human in a fight.

A single person vs. a single dog in a face-to-face confrontation should
really be no contest.  The dog is no match for a human willing to fight.
Multiple dogs is a different story . . .