No paws for thought as dog recruits embark on rigorous training course

There’s been no paws for thought for our four new dog teams.

The crime-fighting duos in the making are currently on a 13-week general purpose dog training course that combines obedience, agility and specialist skills like tracking, building searches and chasing down suspects.

Three of the handlers are new to the role after going through a demanding application process earlier in the year.

The fourth is experienced dog unit team member PC Craig Neeson, whose partner PD Kev, sadly died in September.

PC Neeson is training the new recruits alongside PC Scott Tatton.

PC Neeson said: “General purpose dog training is a rigorous process and the role is also very demanding. Handlers are with the dogs at work and at home, so it is a big commitment but one that is extremely rewarding.

“We are in week nine of training and it’s going well. Our end goal is to have more well-trained police dogs and handlers responding to more incidents and helping to prevent and reduce crime across our county.”

The trainee police dogs (TPDs) and handlers are:

TPD Agi with PC Flynn, TPD Tuli with PC Anderson, TPD Teine and PC Attwood and TPD Danny with PC Neeson.