Paws what you’re doing – five new puppies have joined the SA Police Team
The South Australian Police Dog Operations Unit is pleased to introduce our newest five puppy recruits.
Banjo, Barney, Bomber, Cooper and Chaos are German Shepherds who have recently joined the Puppy Development Program (PDP) at Thebarton Barracks.
The PDP is designed to assess and ensure the puppies will be suitable for the rigours of being a SAPOL working dog.
The early stages of development focus on socialisation, tracking and searching exercises, training in obedience and forming a strong bond with their Dog Operations handler.
The puppies will undertake on-going assessments to ensure their suitability to continue in the PDP.
There is no doubt that all five puppies will do well in their course as they come from esteemed heritage.
Retired Police Dog Iggy, who represented SAPOL at the 2016 Australasian Police Dog Championships in Victoria, is the mother of Cooper and Chaos.
Cooper and Chaos are now 11-weeks-old and were whelped with the cooperation and generous support of expert breeders in Gawler, SA.
Retired Police Dog Ruger – a 2018 Australasian Police Dog Champion – fathered Banjo, Barney and Bomber.
Now 12-weeks-old, they whelped with the cooperation and generous support of one of our expert breeders in NSW.
Once deemed suitable to continue, the shepherds will undergo a number of health checks at twelve months of age and, between 12 and 18 months of age, will commence a General Purpose (GP) Police Dog Course.
The GP Police Dog course takes a further 3-4 months after which they will be fully operational SAPOL dogs trained in obedience, agility, tracking, searching and criminal apprehension techniques.
The puppies that progress through the course are due to graduate around mid-2021 and will be an operational dog until they are about 7-8 years of age.
