In this blog: a course, a welcome and a goodbye

1. ALL CHANGE ON THE INITIAL POLICE DOG COURSE
2. WE WELCOME NEW ADDITIONS QUEST, QUINI, PEPPE AND MERLIN TO THE PUPPY PROGRAM
3. SADLY WE SAY GOODBYE TO TAMMY, GARRY AND DANNO

ALL CHANGE ON THE INITIAL POLICE DOG COURSE

In our last blog the course had successfully completed week 2 of the 13 week course and at that time the line up from left to right were Steve and Rudy, Course Instructor Graham with spare dog Ozzie, Kevin Roberts with Devon and Kevin Riger with Danno.

Since then Steve has injured his knee which meant he is unable to complete the course and will now return on the January 2018 course with a new dog.

If that wasn’t enough TPD Danno has been released from the course. We  found that as the course progressed and the level of difficulty increased he didn’t quite have the determination and commitment required to be a Police dog.

Danno’s handler Kevin has now been allocated Rudy.

Several weeks ago one of our operational Police dogs Bolt had to retire from service due to a back condition aged 7 and so his handler Phil Sim joined our course and was allocated spare dog Ozzie.

Here is the new line up.  From left to right are Kevin Riger & Rudy, Course Instructor Graham Attwood, Kevin Roberts & Devon and Phil Sim & Ozzie.

All 3 teams are progressing nicely and are well on schedule for their licensing assessments in 2 weeks’ time.

Last week the course were joined by Devon’s puppy walker Lyndsay. She hadn’t seen Devon since he left her in June to go to his handler Kevin.

Here they are being reunited.



We also had another surprise because also visiting the course for the day was Sgt James Little with Police dog Cosmic. Lyndsay also puppy walked Cosmic.

Here is Lyndsay with her boys Devon on the left and Cosmic on the right with handler PS James Little.

We encourage all of our puppy walkers to join us during the course to see their pup progressing and also to attend their pups passing out parade.

I will include a blog of the dogs undergoing their licensing assessments and the passing out parade in 2 weeks’ time. Here are the teams and some pictures of their work in recent weeks.

Big Phil Sim and Ozzie have been together for just over 4 weeks and are making excellent progress together.

Phil was obviously very disappointed that his Police dog Bolt had to retire prematurely at 7 but because of Bolt’s excellent temperament Phil was able to find new forever home near to where he lives and as you can see Bolt is more than happy in his new home.

Phil and Ozzie are bonding well together and here are a few pictures of their work. Phil and Ozzie locating a wanted offender who decides to try and escape.

Practising their focus work.

Big Phil helps Ozzie over the high jump to spare Ozzie’s growing joints any unnecessary stress.

Despite working so hard to succeed with Danno first time handler Kevin was obviously disappointed when the decision was made to release him particularly as they had been together for nearly 4 months.

Kevin has developed a bond with new dog Rudy and whereas Danno didn’t have enough determination Rudy’s enthusiasm and energy knows no bounds. Kevin has had to develop a different set of skills in managing such a high drive dog.

Here are the team setting off on their track to try and locate an offender who has made off and needs to be found.

Half a mile later one outstanding criminal detained.

Making the long jump look very easy.

PS Kevin Roberts is also a first time handler and has been with Devon since he collected him from puppy walker Lyndsay in June. Devon has performed consistently well on all of the disciplines throughout the course and just like his father Lenny Devon is already an outstanding tracking dog.

Here he is showing his determination trailing and locating his Quarry who then attempted to escape. He also then demonstrates excellent control and surveillance as his handler searches the criminal.

Puppy walker Lyndsay then joins her boy to congratulate him on a job well done.

So we wish our 3 Musketeers the best of luck on their assessments.

WE WELCOME NEW ADDITIONS MERLIN, QUEST, PEPE AND QUINI TO THE PUPPY PROGRAM

Pictured above are our 4 new additions to our puppy program. Since our last blog I have been busy acquiring these pups and this Sunday was our first opportunity to get all 4 pups together. From left to right are Merlin, Quest, Peppe and Quini.

In October I travelled to Belgium to collect Quest and Quini who had been bred by Walther Verbruggen. I had previously travelled to see the litter and select our 2 pups but due to the Rabies laws I was unable to bring them back to England until they were 15 weeks old.

When they were 15 weeks old I brought them back to my house to assess them and prepare them for their puppy walkers. Here they are in my garden.

Here is a short video of the two of them exploring their new surroundings.



Quest has been allocated to Colin and Mitzi who have previously puppy walked Beckie, Chaos and Danno.

Here he is on his first training day already showing excellent concentration.

Quini stayed with me and Ella for a few more weeks.

Quini has since been allocated to Terri, Mark and their 2 boys in Plymouth.

Next it was time to collect Peppe from Holland. Pepe was bred by Koos Hassing of Tiekerhook breeding who also bred Rudy currently doing exceptionally well on his Initial course with handler Kevin.

Here is Peppe at my house about to leave with his new puppy walkers Chris and partner Lyndsay. They are first time puppy walkers.

Here is Peppe with Chris and his son Henry on his first training day.

Henry and Peppe are already the best of buddies particularly when Henry is making pancakes.

Lastly I acquired Merlin from Jamie Evans in Liverpool. Jamie had purchased Merlin from Ian Morgan of Lorockmor working dogs who bred him.

Jamie hadn’t been able to resist purchasing this lively enthusiastic little man but quickly realised with a young family a very lively female Dutch herder  and Jamie’s wife expecting a baby any day now purchasing Merlin had been a mistake.

My friend Richard Evans ( Who bred our pups Ozzie, Ollie & Oscar ) alerted me to his availability and once I met Merlin he was very quickly in my van  on his way to my house. You can see it didn’t take him long to settle in once he arrived.



He was a little ribby when he arrived but once he was allocated to puppy walker Aunty Lyn Parlour and her home cooking that soon changed.

Merlin is certainly a character who was very easy to get a speak on command for his toy.



They will soon be joined by Henry the herder aged 8 weeks who I am collecting from his breeder Ian Morgan of Lorockmor working dogs this Thursday.

SADLY WE HAVE HAD TO SAY GOOD BYE TO TAMMY, GARRY AND DANNO

The ongoing problem of hip dysplasia continues to haunt us with Tammy and Garry both having the complaint. Tammy’s was detected when she went for her routine x ray at 12 months before allocation to a handler.

Garry had been showing some laxity in his movement at 6 months and so we had him x rayed as a precaution.

Here is Tammy with puppy walker Margaret centre and new owners Carol and Colin collecting her before leaving for their home in Hayle where they live with their Poodle called Darcy. She has settled in nicely and is doing well.

Here is Garry with puppy walkers Terry and Jill with new owner Stephanie ( centre) just before leaving for Dorset where she lives with her husband an ex Police dog handler. We had over 700 responses to offer him a home.

Danno is still staying with me after an unsuccessful attempt to rehome him in Maidstone. He does sometimes take exception to people he doesn’t know trying to stroke or engage with him when he is on lead.

He is absolutely fine with the people he knows but I need to try and school this problem out of him before I can find a suitable home for him. Here he is recently with puppy walkers Mitzi and Colin.

ABOVE AND BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY

Finally I would like to highlight Chris for his efforts and support towards his pup Peppe.

Peppe suffers terribly from car sickness and on getting to training this Sunday he was a little cautious and unsure on the going through the agility tunnel.

Without any prompting from me the irrepressible Chris set up his own little circuit in the garden to build Peppe’s confidence.



Well done Chris :)

Next blog will feature the results and pictures of this week’s Police dog trials.

Bye for now.