The Ministry of Defence Police in Plymouth are training two new recruits - both of the four-legged variety. The new canine coppers Teal and Willow are little sisters, who are just 13 weeks old. The Malinois (Belgian Shepherd) pups are amongst the first in the MoD to be looked after at home and puppy-walked by the dog handler they'll work with for the rest of their career. It's part of an effort to reduce the stress on police dogs and to extend their working life.
 | | Teal and Willow with their handlers |
Teal and Willow will undergo an intense four week training regime with their handlers before being put through their paces at Devonport Naval Base. Chief Inspector Alan Piggott said: "This year, as part of our annual intake of police dogs, Teal and Willow have been brought in as puppies. "We have puppy-walked them ourselves, with their handlers kenneling them at home prior to their training. "Home kenneling for us is a new idea, but we're not looking at it across the board for all our dogs. "It creates spare capacity in our kennel blocks which means the dogs there can get more attention from the kennel staff and more walking from the handlers on duty. "But it's also a value-for-money exercise for us and we are looking to see how much longer the dogs will last in service through being kenneled at home rather than on station. We're anticipating about another year or 18 months service out of each dog."
 | | Training has only just begun |
Handlers believe that dogs living in the MoD kennels miss out on the social side of life. Those living at home are more relaxed and more friendly. It's hoped that the initial training phase will also be reduced from 12 to just four weeks because the dogs will have already spent time with their handlers. "I picked up Willow two weeks ago and with luck she'll be my new police dog," explained dog handler PC Martin Pascoe. "My existing dog Tango was 14-months-old when I got him, he'd already done a lot of training with other handlers when I got him. "My new puppy lives at home rather than in kennels on station, so the bonding will be much better. "It's like having a baby. You've got to start from scratch, teach them to sit, stop them from chewing, toilet train them, everything." Once their training is complete the dogs will be called on to track suspects, search buildings for evidence and one occasions use their bite to apprehend people on the run from police. So what makes a good police dog? They need the will to work, and to be brave but wary. | 
