Currently, there is no research present in the field regarding work-life conflict within K-9 units. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the human officer’s experienced work-life conflict challenges and benefits. K-9 unit’s partner human and canine officers for a variety of tasks. There are various types of K-9 units such as bomb sniffing and patrol dogs. Additionally, these types of units are either federally funded or human officer funded. For example, bomb sniffing K-9 units are federally funded so the canine officer’s needs such as food and other materials are paid for.

Patrol dogs are not federally funded so it is up to the human officer to pay for all items for the K-9 officer (Esposito & Gestein, 2007). Some patrol dogs are allowed to go home with the human officer and have a civilian life, while bomb sniffing dogs are expected to go home with their human partners and engage in civilian life. This dissertation explores the work-life conflict present for two Illinois K-9 units.

This study had the following two research questions. Do human K-9 officers experience work-life balance? Does the canine officer provide any stress relief for the human officer?

Research has suggested that law enforcement can suffer in terms of performance, conflict negotiation and resolution, and stress as a result of work-life conflict concerns (McDowell and Lindsay, 2014). It has also been proven that work-life conflict can impact an individual’s personal life which can impact job performance (Cohen, Duberley, & Musson, 2009). Understanding if work-life conflict is present and how it manifest’s for the human officer is vital to an employee’s well-being and job performance.