Cuddly pups set to paw the beat

As sleepy puppy Uno rolls over onto his back for a tickle it is hard to imagine that one day this small, playful ball of fluff will become a lean and fierce police dog.

"At West Midlands Police we have our own puppy breeding programme – which means that we are never short of police dogs," pointed out Inspector Stuart Manley.

"We also sell dogs to other forces and we are already thinking about how many will be needed for the Olympics in 2012. These are working dogs and we mainly use German Shepherds and Springer Spaniels, but we also have a couple of Rottweilers.

"At the moment we have 173 dogs on our books but a lot of them are out with puppy walkers, who care for them for up to nine months, and then they will be assessed to see if they will make a good police dog."

The West Midlands Police Dog Training Centre has been based at Balsall Common, near Coventry, since 1995. It is a base where the canines are taught 25 skills from crowd control to how to search for someone.

"However, some of the dogs that don't make the grade have to be rehomed with a family," said the police officer.

So, what are the qualities that make a good police dog?

Police dog instructor Tony Brown says: "They need to be suspicious of strangers, fit and energetic and well behaved. But, above all, they have to love to play.

"Police dogs work on a reward basis and so they will work hard all day for the play at the end of it. Dogs can identify 27 different scents and their power of smell is thousands of times more sensitive than ours.

"Each dog is trained to pick up one thing so it could be fire arms, cash, explosives or drugs. Springer Spaniels are natural search dogs because they are small for getting in holes and are less intimidating than German Shepherds and Rottweilers.

"One of our bitches, Gundia, is a breeding dog who was imported from Belgium because her ancestors have all made good police dogs. We have such a good breeding programme, because we use the best dogs possible, that we have only sold one dog as a pet in the last year. Around 50 puppies a year are born at the centre, this changes each year as we learn which dogs are needed for the following few years," he said.

The breeding programme means when a dog comes to the end of its working life, which is at around eight-years-old, they have another one trained up and ready to replace it. Staff at the centre, which has 60 kennels, are working their way through the alphabet when it comes to naming the dogs.

So while Uno's brothers and sisters are Uma, Utah, Usher and Una; Dex, Dee and Dot are fully fledged police dogs and Naz, Nubis and Nasa are not far behind them. West Midlands Police are one of the only forces in the country with a breeding programme. And to buy a police dog it costs between £2,500 and £5,000 – depending on how well trained it is.

Dave Raymond, breed care assistant says: "We try to involve school children so they are not scared of the police dogs and we get them to name the next litter."

"The whelping block has under-floor heating so that it is the right temperature for the dogs and puppies. When a dog is born and it is poorly I take it home and bottle feeds it, almost like a baby.

"At six weeks old the puppies are sent out to their puppy walkers, who are just members of the public. They are from all over the West Midlands and have to be at home with the dog all day. We have to make sure the environment the dog is going to live in is suitable – if it is a small flat then we may have to turn them down.

"Once they leave the puppy walkers we take them away from their comfort zone and see if they will make good police dogs.

"We put them through an initial training course at the centre and on farm land. They are taught that they are allowed to use reasonable force, just like a police officer.

"Sometimes they can detain someone by just standing by them and barking, but they may have to bite them if the person poses a threat. They are trained not to bite the person if they are standing still and to always answer to their handler. The dogs are incredible animals and a real asset to the force," he went on to say.

lThe police dogs will be doing a demonstration at Crufts at Birmingham's NEC on March 6 from 1.30pm.