Police puppies meet their new walkers

The first litter of puppies bred in-house by Devon and Cornwall Police will meet their new puppy walkers on Thursday 25 July.

A puppy walker takes a puppy to live with them for 12 to 18 months for socialising and early training, in preparation for the puppy entering its police training.

Each puppy has undertaken a short series of tests to find out if they were suitable for police dog training and we are delighted to announce that all seven puppies have passed their suitability tests with flying colours.

All seven puppies have now been named.

Canine Development Officer, Paul Glennon, chose the names from thousands of suggestions sent in from around the world by people responding to the competition run through Devon and Cornwall Police’s Facebook page.

The puppy names will be: Axel, Argo, Arry (the boys) and Ava, Anya, Annie and Ash (the girls).

“The response has been overwhelming” said retired sergeant Paul Glennon: “We’ve had suggestions not just from the UK, but from France, Poland, the US, Canada, and Australia to name but a few. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the pups and choosing appropriate names to suit their characters, I’ll really miss them when they go to their puppy walkers.”

Chief Inspector Jane Taylor, head of the Dogs Division, said: “This is a fantastic result and pays tribute to the commitment and passion, of not just Paul but also his family.

“The Puppy Development Scheme will provide us with the highest calibre of police dogs who have the aptitude and character to have a successful policing career.  Furthermore, in times of austerity this is a cost-effective way of making sure that we receive an excellent return for our investment.

“Police dogs are one of our greatest assets and they will experience a wide range of operational exposure, from saving life by tracking vulnerable missing persons, drugs and cash searching, to supporting firearms teams in extreme threat and everything in between.

"I look forward to following these puppies through their training and I thank the Puppy Walkers who we entrust to socialise and give guidance to our young dogs in preparation for the challenge ahead.”

Once the puppies have moved on, mother, Ruby, will live in North Devon with her new owner and will hopefully produce another litter in a year or so.