In this blog: - Ella's Pups, TPD and PD Updates, One home found another need.

IN THIS BLOG

1. ELLA’S PUPS ARE NOW 2 WEEKS OLD AND AFTER A HEALTH SCARE FOR ELLA IN WEEK 1 MOTHER AND PUPS ARE ALL NOW THRIVING
2. TPD ECHO, TPD ERNIE, TPD ERROL AND TPD NICO HAVE ALL BEEN PREPARING FOR THE SEPTEMBER 2019 INITIAL POLICE DOG COURSE
3. AN UPDATE ON PD BROCK AND PD BILL
4. NICKI FINDS A NEW HOME BUT NERO STILL REQUIRES A NEW HOME

ELLA AND HER PUPS ARE NOW 2 WEEKS OLD

Ella’s pups were 2 weeks old on Friday and I am happy to report that mum and pups are all thriving.
I placed coloured collars onto the pups after a few days to enable me to identify them and thus be able to monitor all of their weights.

The boys are green, red, orange, blue and purple, the girls are yellow, pink, light blue and florescent green.

All the pups have steadily gained weight and they all seem very strong and robust.

The only one who didn’t seem to be keeping pace with the rest was Red collar but I think that was more relative to his size being slightly smaller.

This litter are very vigorous in their feeding but because Ella is such an incredible mum she makes sure everyone gets what they need. When the big hitters have had their fill the others all get their chance.

 
We had a scare at the end of the first week last Friday when I noticed that Ella didn’t have her usual sparkle. She didn’t eat her breakfast and so I whipped her off to the vets.

Sure enough she had a temperature of 104.4 and our vet Nick suspected that she was suffering with the early stages of Mastitis.  A course of medication had her back to normal within 2 days and a potentially serious situation had been averted.



People probably get bored hearing me go on endlessly about the incredible qualities that Ella possesses but she is a special girl. She has a calmness and mental toughness about her that I rarely see in a female with the extreme working drives that she possesses.



My one regret is that I didn’t have her when I was a Police dog handler because I have no doubt that as a Police dog she would have achieved legendary status regardless of who was handling her.

Hopefully she will pass this on to these young pups.



We have been lucky with all the females we have raised litters from ie Ruby, Molly, Sasha and now Ella because they have all had marvellous temperaments and were all quite happy with people visiting and being around their pups.

With the warm temperatures that we have been experiencing Ella likes nothing more than lying under the apple tree in the garden relaxing but always alert to any noises from the pups in the conservatory which she can easily hear from that location.

When she is not with her pups she is like my constant shadow following me around hoping for a game of tug or playing with a ball. For that reason I tend to do a lot of my admin on the laptop under that tree to make sure can keep cool.


We are lucky to have such a large garden in which Ella can get plenty of exercise while at the same time she has the freedom to be able to pop into the conservatory to check on her pups when she needs to. I have prepared a short video so that you can see the set up that we have.



Within the next week I will attach a large run to the whelping box to give them more room to explore in the conservatory.  By yesterday all of the pups had opened their eyes and they are becoming a lot more vocal and lively.



I have introduced a small pen alongside the whelping box to put the pups inside while I clean and change the bedding and paper. They were not impressed to start with but didn’t take long to get used to it.



I have had a lot of enquiries asking how Red collar is getting on. No need to worry he is doing fine mum makes sure about that. He is probably one of the more vigorous pups in the group.

Well that just about brings you all up to date. A good sign that all is well is the pups are quiet. That has been the case so far.  From a quiet contented happy bunch of pups bye for now.

TPD ECHO, TPD ERNIE, TPD ERROL AND TPD NICO ARE ALL PREPARING FOR THE SEPTEMBER 2019 INITIAL POLICE DOG COURSE

TPD ECHO

On the 30th of May 2019 PC Jenna Bushby who recently joined the Dorset dog section travelled to meet TPD Echo and her family at their home address.

Jenna has been allocated TPD Echo for the forthcoming Initial Police dog course which commences on the 9th of September 2019.

Since collecting TPD Echo Jenna has been getting to know Echo and building that all important bond. They have been doing some basic training work with local trainer Chris Burridge and general socialisation in preparation for their course.

Unfortunately last week she had a setback in that she was most unhappy going onto several shiny floor surfaces in one of their local buildings. You may remember we had a similar problem on the last course with TPD Sydney.



Up until this point Sydney and puppy walker Phil had previously been on this floor in Debenhams without any issues. TPD Echo is the same she has never had issues with any floor surfaces. I discuss this strange phenomenon in blog 2 of 2019.

Instructor Chris Burridge will be carrying out further evaluation of this issue with Jenna and TPD

Echo next week. Hopefully it is just a blip but if it is not sadly she will not be able to continue in the program.  

TPD ERNIE

TPD ERROL

TPD NICO

Last week I did some evening training up at Exeter racecourse with the other 3 dogs earmarked for the September 2019 Initial Police dog course TPD Ernie, TPD Errol and TPD Nico and their puppy walkers.

I specifically concentrated on their tracking work. TPD Errol and TPD Ernie are 4 months older than TPD Nico and are therefore more advanced. They are both able to successfully tackle a 15 minute old track with several directional changes.

Here is TPD Errol and puppy walker Andy easily completing a 3 leg track.



Even at 7.30 pm up on the racecourse it was still quite warm and so TPD Errol was grateful to puppy walker Olivia for a well-earned drink between tracks.

Although TPD Nico is a little behind the others he is still at a good level for the start of the course.

All 3 teams are well advanced in their Criminal work, searching and tracking work. They are now  waiting to be allocated to  handlers for the start of their course.

ITS BEEN A LONG JOURNEY BUT PD BROCK BECOMES A POLICE DOG IN WEST MERCIA

PD Brock ( Previously Quest) is pictured here with his new Police dog handler Marcus Surridge from West Mercia dog section after successfully completing a 3 month General Purpose Initial Police dog course under the Instruction of West Mercia trainer Ash Oliver.

PD Brock had already successfully completed an Initial Police dog course in Devon and Cornwall in

December 2018 with his then handler Mark Stevens. He had been inconsistent on his tracking during the course but he had been outstanding on every other exercise.

Although successfully completing his end of course tracking tests there was a concern that once he began operational deployment his inconsistency might make it difficult for him to make the transition from training to operational work.

Despite his handler Mark’s best effort that is exactly what happened. It soon became apparent that a significant period of tracking training would be required to correct this problem.
Instructor Graham Attwood who had instructed Mark and PD Brock on their course knew from his time on the course that PD Brock could track and believed that PD Brock had it in him to succeed.

Graham took him to live with his family while he undertook several months remedial tracking work with him. 

Because there was no guarantee that Instructor Graham Attwood could rectify the situation with PD Brock his handler Mark had to start another course with a new dog PD Drake.

Mark was obviously devastated to lose PD Brock not least because he was very much part of the family but also because he had worked so hard to make it a success.

I imported PD Brock ( Formerly Quest ) with his sister Queni from their breeder Walther Verbruggen Belgium in October 2017 aged 15 weeks.

Here is PD Brock ( Formerly Quest) being collected by his puppy walkers Mitzi, Colin and their son
Luke to start his journey.

Instructor Graham Attwood made good progress with PD Brock and so when West Mercia Police dog section were looking for a dog for their Initial Police dog course arrangements were made for PD Brock to be allocated to Marcus a first time handler starting on their section.

I went to see him 2 weeks ago when PD Brock had completed 11 weeks of his Initial course to see how he was getting on. I saw Marcus do a very good track with him.

His Instructor Ash Oliver told me that when they first started with PD Brock he was still inconsistent regularly overshooting changes of direction but that they went back to basics for quite some time and eventually the penny dropped.

Instructor Ash told me it had been hard work but they were now really pleased with him. They took the same view as our force that he was so promising in all the other areas of his work that he was worth persevering with.

Marcus told me that he and his family adore him. Marcus told me that he had always wanted to be a dog handler and that he couldn’t be more pleased starting out with a dog like PD Brock.

My thanks go to Graham Attwood for persevering with PD Brock. I am also grateful to Instructor Ash Oliver and handler Marcus of West Mercia for giving him this opportunity. I am also grateful to Mark Stevens who couldn’t have done any more than he did to try and make it work with PD Brock.

It must have been very stressful for Mark and his family but thankfully he is now working successfully with PD Drake and so it would appear everything has turned out well for all concerned.

I am especially pleased for PD Brock’s puppy walkers Mitzi and Colin who raised PD Brock and like all puppy walkers just wanted the best outcome for their dog. They are obviously delighted that he has been given this chance.

PD BILL IS LOVING LIFE IN YORKSHIRE

In February this year PD Bill went to PC Lee Schofield in South Yorkshire Police dog section to start an Initial Police dog course. PD Bill had originally started a course in our own force in January this year but his handler didn’t complete the course and unfortunately there wasn’t another handler available to continue with PD Bill’s training.

I am happy to report that PD Bill passed with flying colours and is now an operational Police dog with Lee and his other specialist search dogs.

Lee describes him as a superb tracking dog and a bit of a handful which is just what is required for some of the individuals that he will be required to deal with in that part of the country. Lee tells me that he certainly will not be found wanting in that department.

We wish them the best of luck and as always my thanks to the most important people involved the puppy walkers Chris and his son Jake who raised him.

There are further pictures of PD Bill and his puppy walkers in Blog 1 of 2019.

NICKI FINDS HER FOREVER HOME BUT NERO STILL REQUIRES A HOME

Pictured above are brothers Nero, TPD Nico and sister Nicki  who we acquired from Kazzardsway German shepherds in August 2018.

They have been going great guns in their training but sadly Nero and Nicki both failed their hip x rays and could not be passed as fit to work as operational Police dogs. They were due to start our September 2019 Initial Police dog course and so they have had to be released from the puppy program.

We launched a public appeal for anyone willing to provide them with a loving home and received an incredible 200 plus responses.

Both were placed in new homes within a week. Nicki has gone to a lovely home in Horrabridge with Geoff and Lorraine.

She has settled in very well and they are delighted with her. Nicki only just failed her hip x rays and it is very frustrating because she would have made a super Police dog.
Unfortunately Nero’s experience wasn’t so good as he placed within a home who already had a springer spaniel. The spaniel attacked Nero and so we are now looking for another home for Nero.
I am devastated for Nero’s puppy walkers Chris & Lindsey and Nicki’s puppy walker Margaret who have put so much time and effort into developing them both.

DINO ENJOYS HIS HOLIDAY ON THE CANAL WITHOUT GOING OVERBOARD.

Dino had a great time on holiday with his temporary puppy walkers Eamon and Karen and is now safely back home with them without once ending up in the canal.



I hope to put out a short weekly blog giving an update on the progress of Ella’s litter.

We are still short of 2 puppy walkers and an appeal will be going out this week. It will be a pity if we do not get the required number of puppy walkers because this litter could be really quite special.

From me, Ella and her pups bye for now.