First blog of 2020, Initial Dog Course, update and a meet!

In this blog

• TPD Jay, TPD Rebel and TDP Arnie start their 13 week initial police dog course
• An update on TDP Ernie and TDP Rana
• Meet TDP Ace

TPD Jay, TPD Rebel and TDP Arnie start their 13 week initial police dog course

The 2020 January General purpose Initial Police dog course started on January 6th and will run for 13 weeks. On the course from left to right are Ed Harris with TPD Jay, course Instructor Phil Wilson, Danni Howett with TPD Rebel and TPD Arnie with Dean Barker.

The boys certainly looked very different when they first arrived.

TPD JAY

TPD REBEL

TPD ARNIE

Meet the teams

TPD Jay and PC Ed Harris.  Ed is a first time handler and on successful completion of the 13 week course they will be posted to Plymouth.

TPD Jay (Obi) and his brother TPD Arnie (Oscar) were born on the 19th August 2018 and were bred by Bernard Horton of Kazzardsway German shepherds in Manchester.



I remember bringing the two boys back from Manchester and letting them have a leg stretch in our garden before taking them to HQ for allocation to their puppy walkers. They were very confident and self-assured exploring the whole garden.

TPD Jay has been puppy walked by Stewart and Alison Fleming. Here they are collecting TPD Jay from the dog training school aged 8 weeks.

TPD Rebel and PC Dani Howett. Dani is a first time handler and on successful completion of the course will be posted to Ferndown dog centre in Dorset.

TPD Rebel was born on the 5th of August 2018 and was supplied to us by Ian Morgan of Lorockmor working dogs in Shropshire.

TPD Rebel has been puppy walked by experienced puppy walkers Terry and Jill Hodge who are pictured here collecting him from my house aged 8 weeks.

TPD Arnie and PC Dean Barker. Dean is also a first time handler and on successful completion of the course will be posted to Plymouth dog centre in Plymouth.

TPD Arnie as already mentioned is the brother of TPD Jay bred by Bernard Horton of Kazzardsway German shepherds.

TPD Arnie has been puppy walked by Andy Parsons and his family pictured here at their home aged 10 weeks.

Last but not least is our course Instructor Phil Wilson who will be Instructing on his first Initial course and we wish him luck. 

OUR PUPPY WALKERS

Our puppy program has been running very successfully for over 30 years. Initially we acquired puppies from established breeders and placed them with puppy walking families who socialised and looked after them until allocation to a Police dog handler.

This has evolved to a situation where we still acquire puppies from established breeders but we also now breed our own puppies and our puppy walkers are much more involved in the actual training of the puppies.

Here are TPD Jay, TPD Arnie and TPD Rebel on their first training/development day.

Here is TPD Rebel in the early stages of his sit stay.

Here is TPD Arnie in the early stages of his down stay.

Here is TPD Jay doing some work on the ramps.

By the time the pups have become adults and before they are allocated  to their handlers our pups have already reached a very  impressive level of performance on many of the core exercises such as general control, tracking, person searching, article searching and use of force exercises such as the straight chase.

This means the dogs are already at a very good level when they start their Initial Police dog course which in turn means when they start operational deployment they are much better prepared going forward.

Here is Andy with TPD Arnie showing excellent tracking potential with his impressive concentration and obvious enjoyment of this exercise.

Here is Stewart with a very young TPD Jay already showing determination and boldness on the chase and detain exercise.

Here are TPD Rebel and TPD Arnie showing that they are not backward in coming forward either when it comes to criminal work.

They were very impressive at the Devon county show last year aged only 9 months and were a credit to their puppy walkers and the Alliance.

Whenever we start a new Initial Police dog course I like to do a blog introducing the dog teams and showing the work the puppy walkers have done to get the dogs this far.

I always find it very emotional going back over the photos and seeing all the good times we had together on our puppy classes. I know just how much commitment our puppy walkers put into their pups and how much heartache there is for the puppy walkers whose pups don’t make it.

The 3 dogs and their puppy walkers had their last training day together in November last year and I was really thrilled to see the 3 new prospective handlers Ed, Dean and Dani and course Instructor

Phil all turn up to see the dogs perform and to meet the puppy walkers.

Once the course started  I went out with the course several times during their first week to see how they had all settled in and to be on hand if any of the handlers or Instructor Phil had any questions or queries.

Here is TPD Jay searching and locating a hidden person to his handler Ed.

Here is TPD Rebel doing some focus work with handler Danni.

Unfortunately TPD Rebel cut his pad the week before the course which required stitches and so we had to restrict a lot of his work until the stitches are removed this Monday.

We were able to do some work with TPD Rebel wearing a boot. Here he is just about to be introduced to a wood search.

He was also able to perform the tracking exercise on the soft grass.

Here is TPD Arnie doing some focus work with handler Dean.

The 13 week General purpose Initial Police dog course is without doubt the most demanding dog training course there is. The reason the course is so demanding is because of the wide range of skills, disciplines and diversity of different tasks that a General purpose Police dog has to master.

The dogs will be conditioned to follow tracks or trails of criminals who have left a crime scene or of vulnerable missing persons across all types of terrain.  Here is Ed  with  TPD Jay and Dean with TPD Arnie in the early stages of this exercise.

They will learn to search for outstanding criminals and vulnerable missing persons using air scent and to indicate to their handler when they have found them by barking.

They will learn to deal with violent volatile crowds and to defend their handler against attack. They will learn to chase and detain a fleeing criminal and to disarm a criminal who is armed with a weapon.

Here are TPD Jay and TPD Arnie both extremely committed dogs performing a straight chase.

Here is Ed and TPD Jay completing the early stages of the long jump together. Fortunately as the long jump increases in length only the dog has to jump over it which is just as well because I think it might have been a problem for Ed in those tight trousers.

So far so good and I hope to do a full update on their progress around half way through the course.

PROGRESS REPORT ON TPD RANA AND TPD ERNIE

TPD RANA

TPD ERNIE

For those of you who follow the blog you will be aware that TPD Rana only completed 9 weeks of last year’s Initial Police dog course before picking up a severe gastrointestinal illness and although
TPD Ernie completed most of the course we were unable to find a handler for TPD Ernie until the end of the course.

TPD Rana now appears fully recovered and will be doing a 4 week catch up course in Dorset with her handler Jenna Bushby and Instructor Chris Burridge.

TPD Ernie has started a 4 week finalisation course in force with his new handler Racheal Prescott and Instructor Steve Dutton.

Hopefully both will successfully complete their courses.  Jenna and TPD Rana will be posted to Ferndown in Dorset and Rachael will be posted to Ashburton with TPD Ernie.

I’m hoping that both teams will join the passing out parade of TPD’S Rebel, Arnie and Jay so that their families and puppy walkers can share in the success of their pups.

MEET TPD ACE

TPD Ace has been donated to the force by Angie Kurn and her family in Liskeard . They rescued him aged 6 months but now aged around 18 months he has so much drive, energy and enthusiasm that the family are unable to give him the exercise that he needs. 

They would not accept any money for Ace and just want him to have a good home where he will be happy. Having had him living with me for the last week I can vouch for the fact that he does not belong in a pet home.

Here he is enjoying charging around the garden with my female Ella.

I think he has all the qualities to be a Police dog and although we do not have a place for him on the current Police dog course he is enjoying living with us until a vacancy materialises.
I hope to do a blog half way through the current Initial Police dog course to update everyone on how the teams are doing.

From Ella and I bye for now.

PD Tank ( Errol) and PD Nico successfully graduate as operational police dogs but TPD Rana and TPD Ernie have to wait a little bit longer

Pictured above are PC Elizabeth Porcher with PD Tank (Previously Errol) course Instructor Steve Dutton and PS Andy Coleman with PD Nico having just qualified as Operational Police dogs.

After 13 gruelling weeks on their General purpose Police dog course they were independently assessed yesterday by City of London Police dog Instructor John Nichols and granted their home office license to become General purpose Police dogs.

Readers of the blog will know the course started with 4 dogs and a different Instructor Graham Attwood. Here are the dog teams at the start of the course with the Chief Constable making an impromptu appearance.

From left to right were TPD Ernie with the course Instructor Graham Attwood, TPD Rana with handler Jenna Bushby Dorset Police, TPD Nico with handler Andy Coleman D&C and TPD Tank ( Previously Errol) with handler Elizabeth Porcher Dorset Police.  

All 3 handlers on the course were novice first time handlers. TPD Ernie was the only dog without a handler and this was because it was considered that his extremely strong drives, fierce determination and speed meant that TPD Ernie needed an experienced dog handler.

Here he is showing that determination in week 1 whilst tracking with Graham.

As we didn’t have an experienced dog handler needing a dog we decided to train him anyway just in case a handler became available.

It was decided that course Instructor Graham Attwood would handle and train him for the rest of the course. TPD Ernie was living with Graham and his family during the course.

The course progressed well with all of the dogs performing well in all exercises and disciplines.

Here is Jenna with TPD Rana showing natural tracking ability in the early weeks.



TPD Rana was meant to be on our January 2020 course but because we lost several dogs from our Sept 2019 course with hip dysplasia we had to fast track her onto this course aged only 10 months.

Here is course Instructor Graham with TPD Ernie tracking training after 5 weeks on the course and  showing just why we rate TPD Ernie so highly


Over the 13 weeks the dogs have to learn to track and search for vulnerable missing persons and outstanding criminals, deal with violent and disorderly crowds, defend their handlers from attack, chase and detain fleeing criminals, search for lost or discarded stolen property, negotiate a wide variety of different obstacles and all of this is built on a foundation of control exercises.

Here is PD Tank ( Errol) emphasizing just what  outstanding tracking dogs we produce in our force. We start this exercise with our 3 month old pups because it is the most important exercise our Police dogs have to do.


I have emphasized the tracking because in the vast rural area our handlers have to work in and the distances they have to cover very often by the time they get to the scene the track is fading and only the best tracking dogs can flourish.

Very often our handlers are alone tracking violent criminals for miles in the dark having to negotiate obstacles on the way. Here is Andy tracking across country negotiating a fence with his 42 kg dog PD Nico before locating the offender.

Unfortunately around week 6 of the course disaster struck when Instructor Graham Attwood injured his back just as he was about to lift TPD Ernie over a fence whilst tracking.

This injury effectively put Graham out for the rest of the course and so Instructor Steve Dutton had to take over and carry on the good work already done by Graham.

This meant that Graham couldn’t look after TPD Ernie. Ernie then came to live with me at weekends and continued training with the course members during each week.

As always my dog Ella took him under her wing and it was perfect relaxation for him in between training on the course.

Here he is doing a track with Vikky Ritchie who helped out on the course while her own dog PD Riggs recovered from a leg injury.

Around week 9 of the course TPD Rana developed some gastrointestinal issues which prevented her completing the rest of the course. She has fully recovered but will now need to complete a further 4 weeks training in the new year to be ready for licensing.
It is a real shame that she couldn’t finish on this course and obtain her license because she was doing so well. But it is great news that she has fully recovered and I think she will be a great dog for Jenna.

Keeping TPD Ernie training on the course proved to have been a very wise decision because last week tragedy struck when PD Buddy from our B litter had to be put to sleep after battling an awful disease called Furunculosis which had taken a turn for the worst.

Rachael took Buddy to see his old puppy walkers for the last time before doing what we all dread in such circumstances ie saying goodbye and watching our best friend quietly going to sleep in our arms.

Here is Buddy on his passing out parade over 4 years ago with his handler Rachael and his puppy walkers Lyndsay and Anthony.

PD Buddy was an outstanding Police dog who Rachael will never forget and she will always have the fantastic memories of their time together.

Rachael has now been allocated TPD Ernie and today took TPD Ernie from me to get to know and bond with him before joining TPD Rana and Jenna on a 4 week licensing course at the beginning of January.

In the B litter as a tiny pup PD Buddy stood out as he always fixed you with his strong confident stare and I knew he would be a future Police dog. TPD Ernie in the E litter was exactly the same and I have no doubt he will be a great dog for Rachael.

Steve will continue with their Instruction and I look forward to seeing them graduate and follow in the footsteps of PD Tank ( Errol ) and PD Nico.

Last week I spent the day watching Instructor Steve putting the final touches to preparing PD Tank and PD Nico for their assessments with their handlers. Here are Andy and PD Nico getting some words of wisdom from Steve.

Here is Elizabeth and PD Tank practising for their tracking assessment. On the tracking assessment they have to follow the trail of a criminal who has left the scene of a crime 45 minutes prior to the arrival of the dog team.

The track is over half a mile in distance and they have to locate 4 articles hidden or dropped by the criminal on route and they then have to locate the criminal and arrest him/her. (



Here is PD Nico searching for hidden items of property and on locating he must indicate by freezing and not touching the item to preserve any DNA.

Here is PD Nico carrying out the stand-off exercise. This is where the handler sends his/her dog to detain a fleeing criminal and the criminal then decides to stop and surrender giving himself up. The dog should not bite but remain with the criminal until his/her handler arrives.

It is a very difficult exercise to teach because the dog has to make a split second decision not to bite.

Nico performed the exercise perfectly and the criminal has no doubt running again would be a bad move.

Here is Andy practising the down stay and some control exercises with PD Nico. This is the foundation for all exercises.

Here is PD Tank practising his down stay and some agility exercises.

So all the hard work over 13 weeks and the final preparations paid off with the successful teams achieving their license to leave as operational Police dogs and so the final day is always reserved for the passing out parade.

We have had a passing out parade for over 30 years which is always a nice way to finish the course. It gives the handlers a chance to share the day with their family and it also gives us an opportunity to say a big thank you to all of our puppy walkers.

The weather was appalling but nothing was going to put the dampeners on our puppy walkers being reunited with their dogs.

Here is PD Nico reunited with Rob and Karen.



Here is PD Tank ( Errol) being reunited with Sue and Andy.



It is always interesting how it always takes a minute for the dog to realise it is actually their puppy walkers.

The course then put on a demonstration for their families, friends and puppy walkers. The foul  weather and boggy ground made it unsuitable for formal heelwork and the usual march on parade.

Elizabeth and PD Tank ( Errol ) gave a demonstration of tracking down and dealing with a very violent festive Elf.



Andy and PD Nico gave a demonstration of a vehicle pursuit where the driver a Belinda Carlisle lookalike abandoned the vehicle and tried to escape.



We all then went inside to dry off and to warm up with a hot drink before taking photographs of the course, family and puppy walkers with their dogs.

Here are the course with ACC Paul Davies who is a great supporter of the section and wanted to present the handlers with their certificates and a thank you photo to the puppy walkers.

From left to right are Andy with PD Nico, ACC Paul Davies, course Instructor Steve Dutton  and Elizabeth Porcher with PD Tank

Andy with PD Nico and his puppy walkers Rob and Karen.

Andy with PD Nico and Andy’s family.

Andy with PD Nico and his breeder Bernard Horton of Kazzardsway German shepherds who traveled down from Manchester to see them.

Andy and PD Nico ready to hit the streets.

Elizabeth or Porch as she is known with PD Tank ( Errol) with his puppy walkers Andy and Sue.

Porch with PD Tank and Porch’s family.

Porch with PD Tank ready to hit the streets of Dorset.

After the photos we all retired to the presentation room where ACC Paul Davies presented the handlers with their licensing certificates and the puppy walkers with a photo of their dog and a certificate of recognition for all of their hard work.

Then it was time to retire to the buffet ably presented by our kennel technician and cordon bleu chef for the day John.

Despite the weather we all had a great day. I would like to wish Porch and Andy all the best as they start their new career as operational dog handlers with PD Tank and PD Nico.

From Ella and I see you next time.