The next generation of police dogs to work in Aberdeen may only be 10-weeks-old but their training has already begun.
Brother-and-sister duo, Russell and Dee, joined the force as soon as they were ready to leave their mum and are starting to get a taste of what life with the police will look like in the future.
The Sprocker spaniels will be trained to become specialist search dogs but for now they are simply getting used to the world around them.
“There is no structured or formal training yet,” PC Steve Warden told me as I visited the city’s Nelson Street station to meet the force’s most adorable new recruits.
“Even stopping in the canteen to talk to people counts as training at this point.
“Social interaction is a big thing for building confidence and getting them used to different environments.
“Wee Russell has already had his first blue lights experience and he just fell asleep. That’s what we want. If we can get them used to that now, down the line everything will be so much easier.”
‘Are their tails wagging?’
In the coming months, Russell and Dee will be out and about on public transport, visiting shopping centres and attending sporting events.
PC Warden, regional instructor for the north-east, continued: “We’ll be taking them anywhere you can think of because they will be searching everywhere.
“So many businesses in and around Aberdeen are very supportive of our training and allow us to work with the dogs. It’s great as you can’t always replicate that environment.
“We genuinely couldn’t do it without them.”
After Russell and Dee were born in July –part of a litter of 15 – their Turriff-based breeder reached out to the police.
PC Ted Stockley said: “We went to meet the whole litter at three weeks old and then went back at seven weeks to do an assessment.
“This is just to check their basic interactions – do they follow you? How do they react when something is dropped? How are their senses? Are they happy? Are their tails wagging?
“And, it was these two who came out on top. Once they were ready to leave their mum, we went back to collect them.”
Building a special bond
Creating a bond with their police dog is one of the most important things for a handler and building that trust starts as soon as they meet.
Their connection is so much more than a workplace relationship, spending 24 hours a day together means the dogs also become part of the officer’s family.
“This is what I love about the job,” said PC Warden. “We love them, and they love us.
“I’m passionate about training the dogs to do something for us. They’ve got the natural ability. We’re just fine tuning it.”
Police dogs work in Aberdeen and across the region
At full strength, there are 16 police dogs working in the north-east – from as far south as Brechin all the way up to Elgin.
These include a mixture of general purpose dogs, usually German and Belgian shepherds, and specialist search dogs, which include Springer spaniels, Cocker spaniels and Labradors.
The dogs will typically retire between the ages of eight and 10 which gives the younger dogs, like Russell and Dee, the opportunity to step into their operational careers.
The puppies are expected to start their training in drugs and security searching at between nine and 12 months old.
PC Warden added: “Ideally, they will do their training in the north-east and stay here to work. That’s our plan.
“These two have already had the luxury of being police dogs but slow development is important to keep them happy and still playing. We don’t want them to burn out too young.
“We want them to develop in their own way, so it’s great to see them playing and enjoying it. The training is all about positive reward – it has to be because we want them to do this for a long time.”
Conversation