Patrol and specialist teams compete for top dog titles

Twelve police patrol dog teams and ten specialist detector dogs and handlers are competing for national honours this week in the National Police Dog and Detector Dog Championships being held in the greater Wellington region.

Wellington’s Senior Constable Ben O’Connor and Ox are back to defend their national patrol team title as are 2014 national narcotic detector dog title holders Senior Constable Bruce Lamb and Mylo from Canterbury.

The hard working canines and their handlers from Police, Customs, Corrections and Aviation Security are being tested on tracking, agility, obedience, searching, and detection capability in a series of demanding day and night time challenges taking place at locations in the Hutt Valley, Wellington and southern Wairarapa.

The dogs and their handlers have been selected from regional trials. Each team has gone into the nationals with a set of points with marks being deducted for any mistakes they make during the realistic scenarios.

The Police patrol dog section features three teams from Auckland, one from Gisborne, two from Bay of Plenty (Whakatane and Tauranga), one from Whanganui, two from Wellington, two from Canterbury and one from Tasman.

Another six teams – two from Police (Bay of Plenty and Canterbury), two from Corrections (Auckland and Wellington) and two from Customs (Auckland and Wellington) are vying for the narcotic detector dog title.

It’s also an inter-agency test in the explosives detector category with 2011 champions Senior Constable Hamish Todd and Cindy from Wellington up against three Aviation Security teams.

The championships end tomorrow afternoon when Police Commissioner Mike Bush presents the prize winners with their trophies.

Media are welcome to attend the 3pm, Wednesday 27 May ceremony which will take place at the Police Dog Training Centre, Dante Road, Trentham.

Please note that it’s not possible to arrange in field photos or footage during the competition itself. There will however be photo and interview opportunities at the prize giving.

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