Police sniffer dog

Well there is a limit!!!!

look at the eyes.

Pd Kirk

Currently awaiting further details

History from Alan Pickles, ex-Bradford City

Thanks to Alan Pickles for this post.

Pensioners at West Yorks Dog Trials. Harewood House. 2001?

Front Row.

Ian Thompson. ? Davison. Peter Wiltshire. Geoff Whyatt. Jack?
W. Yks. Leeds. W.Yks. Dewsbury. Leeds.

Back Row.

Alan Pickles. Eric Heywood. Geoff Kitson.
Bradford . Bradford. W.Yks.







March 1973 Temple Newsham

Insp. Ron Woodward Pc 803 Pete Yeoman PD Rex. Pc 305 Chris Lamb PD Sabre 11. Pc 747 John Broadhead PD Chris. Pc 614 Paul Diggle (deceased) PD Rebel. Insp. Ivor Hoban Lancs Constabulary.

This photo (below) is of a Dog Section retirement party for Sid Oxley, former Barnsley Borough Dog Section.

Left to right

Back row

1. Peter Wiltshire W.Yorks 2. Dave Jackson W.Yorks 3. Ron Prime W.Yorks 4. Geoff Kitson W.Yorks 5. Ron Reynolds S.Yorks 6. ?? ?? 7. Geoff Wyatt W.Yorks 8. ?? ?? 9. Peter Readshaw W.Yorks 10. ?? ??

Front row

1. Colin Ogley W.Yorks 2. Andy Ryan W.Yorks 3. Jim Millward W.Yorks 4. SID OXLEY S.Yorks. 5. ?? ?? 6. Angus Taylor W.Yorks 7. Louis Truelove W.Yorks 8. ?? ??

A Dog's Prayer

A Dog's Prayer Beth Norman Harris

Treat me kindly, my beloved master, for no heart in all the world is more grateful for kindness than the loving heart of me.

Do not break my spirit with a stick, for though I should lick your hand between the blows, your patience and understanding will more quickly teach me the things you would have me do.

Speak to me often, for your voice is the world's sweetest music, as you must know by the fierce wagging of my tail when your footstep falls upon my waiting ear.

When it is cold and wet, please take me inside, for I am now a domesticated animal, no longer used to the bitter elements. And I ask no greater glory than the privilege of sitting at your feet beside the hearth.

Though had you no home, I would rather follow through ice and snow than rest upon the softest pillow in the warmest home in all the land, for you are my god and I am your devoted worshipper.

Keep my dish filled with fresh water, for although I should not reproach you were it dry, I cannot tell you when I suffer thirst.

Feed me clean food, that I may stay well, to romp and play and do your bidding, to walk by your side, and stand ready, willing and able to protect you with my life should your life be in danger. And, beloved master, should the great Master see fit to deprive me of my health or sight, do not turn me away from you.

Rather hold me gently in your arms as skilled hands grant me the merciful boon of eternal rest - and I will leave you knowing with the last breath I drew, my fate was ever safest in your hands.

Placed on the Blog at the request of Commander H

Grieve not for me

Grieve Not For Me
Author - Unknown

GRIEVE NOT FOR ME FOR IT HAS BEEN ORDAINED,

THAT MY JOURNEY HERE BE SHORT.

GRIEVE NOT FOR ME FOR MY LOYAL PRESENCE

WILL EVER REMAIN IN YOUR HEART.

I WAS SENT TO BE A GUARDIAN

FOR THE GUARDIANS OF LAW IN BLUE

A FEARLESS, NOBLE PROTECTOR

WITH A BOND THAT FEW CAN CONSTRUE.

WITH CHARACTER UNSHAKABLE,

AND SENSES THAT ARE WELL HEIGHTENED,

I WAS SENT TO BE A DEFENDER,

SO THAT YOUR BURDEN HERE WOULD BE LIGHTENED,

GRIEVE NOT FOR ME FOR IN HEAVENLY BLUE

OUR REUNION DAY WILL COME.

GRIEVE NOT FOR ME FOR AS PARTNERS AGAIN,

WE WILL DEFEND A GREATER KINGDOM.

Traffic & Dog Section reunion 2008

Reunion 19 september 2008 at the Staff of Life PH, Sutton in Ashfield, Notts.

Police Dog Handlers and Firearms

I was recently asked why Police Dog Handlers were not armed in firearm situations.

The above was captured by a press photographer, a good few years ago, and is self evidencing with the 'cocked' 38 revolver.

Police Dog Handler

POLICE DOG HANDLER


A track to be followed, of which no trace can be seen.
A person still hiding, where everyone's been.
A child, lost, who cannot be traced.
Property hidden, or something mis-placed,
Searches made in vain that another must do.
A runner, criminal athlete, too fast to pursue.


Violence, a riot, too few on the ground.
A place must be guarded, not enough to surround.
Displays to be fixed, getting artistes a pain.
Public relations - aah, an animal's domain.
Places to visit and tales to tell.
Advice on dogs!! an officeman's hell.


What is the cry?, with all shouts to the van.
How on earth can we do it?
"Get the Dogman".

Police Dog Handler/Trainer retired

This is a photograph of one 'happy' retired Police Dog Handler/Trainer who introduced me to the art and gave me a career. This photograph will stop on the blog until he does a swap!

Any ideas as to the identity should be passed to the FBI.

Isle of Man Police Dog.

August 1964 news article.

In Custody
1964. The Isle Of Man’s only police dog has a nervous breakdown on duty helping control 7,000 Rolling Stones fans. The screaming upsets the dog so much, it starts to snarl at the fans. It is relieved of duty for several days.

Perhaps someone can verify the authenticity

Leicester City Police Dogs 1963

Left. PC 115 Dave Simpson
Centre PC 124 Ben Farrar
Right PC 359 Barrie Swain

Pc Leonard Rayner, Grimsby Boro Police Dog Handler

My name is Leonard Rayner and I served with the Grimsby Borough Police Force from 1953 until 1983 after its transition through Lincolnshire Police into Humberside Police. I became GY Boro's first Police Dog Handler in 1962 and served in that capacity until 1967. My initial training as a dog handler was at Preston, Lancashire who supplied my dog "Grimpol Tex". During my period as a dog handler I entered four N0.3 District Regional Trials and on each occasion qualified for the National Trials finally winning this title in 1966 with a subsequent appearance on BBC TV's Blue Peter. I also entered Leeds Police Dog Championship Show at Roundhay Park winning on each occasion in 1963, 1964 and 1965. Anyone who remembers me and Grimpol Tex please do not hesitate to get in touch particularly Ray Woods, Dennis Scott and Geoff Plumber who were all ex. Notts County handlers. I very recently have been in touch with Alan Pickles ex. Bradford City handler and was delighted to talk over old times.

1960's Police Panda Car

A little nostalgia from Goathland (NE Yorks) @ Aidensfield

PC 386 Exley, Bradford City Police

Extract from news report Bradford & District 15 December 2007

A newly-born police puppy has been named Ken in a fitting tribute to popular police dog handler Ken Exley, who died last year.
Mr Exley, who was 76 when he passed away, became one of the first dog handlers in the country when he was appointed to the role in 1960 as PC 386.
He served in Bradford for more than 30 years and, when he died, former colleagues decided they wanted to commemorate his life.
The Bradford branch of the National Association of Retired Police Officers (NARPO) was told it could subsidise a police dog for a year, paying for its initial upbringing, injections and early training.
Members of the branch jumped at the opportunity and, yesterday, they presented a cheque for £500 at the police dog training centre near Wakefield.
Joseph Broadley, chairman of the Bradford branch of NARPO, said: "Ken was a gentle giant and an extremely popular member of the force".

Police Dog Training

John Goudy, Suffolk
Mick 'Stanley' Moore Steve Clifford Joe Lloyd


Joe Lloyd and 'Smoke gets in your eyes'






Dan Wallace

Joe Lloyd

Steve Clifford


Dan Wallace

Barney Hagen, nearly got his leg over

Police Dog Training, Budby Common, Nottinghamshire 1983, I think your man went 'thataway'!

Any old Police Dog stories?

A request from Marilyn Walton, author of 'Badge on My Collar (subject of previous post)

My book, entitled Badge on My Collar--A Chronicle of Courageous Canines, has enjoyed a spectacular success, far beyond my expectations, ranking as high as #6 on amazon.com's Top 100 New Animal Books for three months and has showed up on nearly 100 websites around the world. The USPCA sells it on their website for raise money, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police use it as a prize in their annual "Name the Puppy Contest." This was my eighth book. It was so kind of you to put it on your blogsite.

As a result of its success, I am considering writing a sequel to the book. I have written about many kinds of working K9s before, but I have not received any stories about UK police dogs. I am looking for poignant stories about the dogs. I look for the humorous, the unusual and the memorable kinds of stories that people like to read and ones that showcase these dogs and their specialties. I also include a few pictures of each dog I profile. I have to admit the picture of the dog on your website wearing the boots would make a cute cover picture if I get many international stories. I can't believe the reception this book has gotten in the UK and also Australia. Yesterday someone posted it in Bulgaria, and I have heard from people in Tasmania!

I would love to hear some UK stories, and if any handlers would like to submit them to me for consideration, I would be most glad to receive them. They could be emailed to me at see e-mail contact link front page

National Police Dog Trials 28 April 2008

Click on image to enlarge

Competitors at the NATIONAL POLICE DOG TRIALS 2008, Merseyside

1 David Ginn Jubilee Rhum Metropolitan
2 Bob Newham Razor Lincolnshire
3 Steve Bishop Ace 5 Metropolitan
4 Alec Bell Nica Strathclyde
5 Steve Vaughan Shadow Suffolk
6 Neil Cherrington Taz West Midlands
7 Chris Reid Coll Strathclyde
8 Eric Carbis Zak Central Scotland
9 Steve Laughton Kai Merseyside
10 Dave Buckley Chaz Nottinghamshire
11 Paul Glennon Spud Devon & Cornwall
12 Steve Williams Robby Sussex
13 Kevin Hughes Flint South Wales
14 John Hawkins Riot BTP
15 Graham Clarke Kiro Demi Metropolitan
16 Chris Booker Dexter West Yorkshire
17 Guy Williams Ben Avon & Somerset
18 Graham Shaw Quin Metropolitan
19 Mark Johnson Jet Nottinghamshire
20 Jonathan Wood Bex West Midlands
21 Steve Randall Barra Fife
22 Dave Ross VHN Perseus Metropolitan
23 Lee Geary Den West Yorkshire
24 George Lewandowski Boris Central Scotland

Police dog 60/70s

Extract from a Ladybird easy - reading book first published in 1974.

Certainly the first specialist dog of this nature!!!! trained to detect the Tranny van man?. I would be very interested to know why?

The comment below reveals this to have been a spoof publication. Owing to the fact that I found it to be somewhat hilarious I am leaving it in situ.

The book has been sent in its entirety all over the internet, myself having received it from numerous sources.

A fellow author from across the pond, 'Badge on my collar'

Press Release

Marilyn Jeffers Walton's eighth book has just been released. The attachment gives a preview of the book and shows the cover. The book is entitled, Badge of My Collar--A Chronicle of Courageous Canines. This book profiles fifteen police and search and rescue dogs telling their unique and fascinating true stories. Three of these dogs are Ohio dogs. One, Luke II, is the highly successful Cincinnati Police Department K-9 who was rescued from the Animal Friends Humane Society in Butler County the day he was to be put down. Other dogs from around the country and in Iraq are featured in the book which also includes the poignant story of the only dog lost at the World Trade Center on 9/11. Over a span of twenty years these stories were searched for and collected to create a true chronicle of these self-sacrificing and brave dogs.

The book is available at http://www.authorhouse.com/ or by calling 1 888-728-8467. It is also available an amazon.com or authorhouse.co.uk, and is being sold through the U.S. Police Canine Association website. http://www.uspcak9.com/

Ex-Chief Inspector Terry Shelton

Anecdote and photograph with the kind permission of Harold Philbin

Photo of Terry Shelton with King George VI .

A proud and private man Terry Shelton, not many of the thousands of handlers he trained actually knew his real name or that he was one of the heroic Marine Commandos who invaded Norway during World War two.

It seemed that a P.C. called him Terry by mistake just after the war and he liked it so much that he answered to it for the rest of his very active long service, just short of forty years to be accurate.

Subtle commands

extract from a news letter, date not known.

Don’t try telling police dogs to “p--s off”!
I had to laugh when I read the Skipper about the German trained police dog. I was a police dog handler for 26 years in the Bristol Constabulary.
I was one of two policemen to start the dog section in this force. We had two puppies supplied by the Surrey Police Dog Section. Even in those days dogs were in a short supply and were obtained from members of the public as gifts, and bred by various police forces, especially those forces that had a training centre. A lot of breeding stock was of course from Germany. Germany uses an enormous number of dogs. I understand that the border patrols have somewhere in the region of 3,000 dogs.
In my time as a handler, dogs from abroad had to be quarantined for six months and this was not a viable proposition for small dog sections. I don't know what the situation is today. To get back to what made me laugh was your "aus" and "bissen" which you say the dog handler had to learn. This is not for the dogs' sake, it is a safety precaution. At the dog training school we were taught to say "passauf" - this was when we wanted the dog to attack. This as you can see was a safety factor. It was not a word I was likely to use in everyday conversation but this is the laugh. I was with my colleague late one evening when we came upon three young men coming from the back of a factory. When they saw the dog van approach they stepped back into the shadows. We stopped, got our dogs out of the van and went up to them. After questioning them and examining the premises we were satisfied that they had been relieving themselves. We told them to go on their way. There is always one. This one was becoming a nuisance. His mates were trying to calm him down to no avail. He was mouthing off about his rights and gesticulating. My colleague's dog was getting a bit agitated and straining at the short lead. His handler stepped nearer and said forcefully "p--s off" and pointed in the direction he wanted the man to go. The dog must have thought he had said "passauf" because in the wink of an eye the dog lunged forward and seized him by his arm. Startled, the young fellow tried to snatch his arm out of the dogs mouth, and the handler was pulling the dog back, when the coat sleeve parted company with the rest of the jacket.
It was then that the man decided to leave the scene and, after picking up his sleeve, he ran off ranting and raving to catch up to his mates who had left when we told them to. We put the dogs back into the van.
It was at this time we realised that even using a foreign language was fraught with danger.
Tom Hornsby, Hamilton Close, Hayle

If You are out there Tom, please contact.
A command also used by the Notts Police! but which one?

Death of Scarborough's first Police Dog Handler

Reported in the press 21 February 2008

SCARBOROUGH'S first ever police dog handler has died at the age of 77.
Norman Collier was well known for patrolling Scarborough with his award-winning Alsatian, called North, who gained many accolades over the years.Norman joined the police in 1956 and spent 17 years with the force, working mainly in Scarborough and spending a short time in Guisborough.He started his police career as a village bobby in Carlton Miniott, near Thirsk, and after two years went to train as a dog handler at Solberge Hall, Northallerton.

In 1966 North was made a working trials champion, the highest award a dog can obtain in civilian trials, and in 1968 he came 2nd in the national police dog finals

Ollie the Owl

The infamous 'Ollie the owl'

Yes it was me who dressed Ollie up with a pirates hat and patch in Ch/Insp Ray Wood's Office at Sutton and revelled in the fact that the Section were questioned at length with an eagle eye. It was me that kidnapped him and left the note. We (I will not name the two Dog Section Sgts who ably assisted me) had great fun doing the video and it was hard to stifle the laughter in the background. The worst thing was fearing that Ollie would break when doing the jumps and criminal work.
The art of going in the Dog Section Office was to distract Woodies attention and turn Ollie's head so that he wasn't looking at you, as it always appeared that if Ollie was looking at you a b********g was imminent.

More from the Ray Wood album

From LEFT to RIGHT. as we look at them with thanks to Alan Pickles, Ex-Bradford City

1. P.C. Geoff Plummer, Leeds City. 2. Roger aka Howard Radford Lincoln City. 3. Louis Oldfield. West riding 4. Sgt Les Bray. West Riding. 5. ?. 6. The one and only, Sgt Terry Kane, Leeds City. 7. Jock Cuthbertson. and finally. Little Ray Wood. Notts County.
This was taken in the early to mid sixties .Roger was appointed dog handler with Ron Woodward and both trained initially at Hutton in 1959. Les Bray had retired by 1968 when the first main amalgamations took place.

Posted with the kind permission of Sarah Wood

Sgt Raymond William Wood

Nottinghamshire Police Dog Section

Police Dog Training Course 1969 Epperstone Manor

Left to right

**, **,Pc Mel Symonds, Pc Roy Burditt (Leics), Sgt John Towlson, Insp Ray Wood, Pc Dave Houldsworth, Pc Bruce Seymour (Leics), **, Pc Douglas Stuart (Leics)

Produced with the kind permission (hopefully) of Dave Houldsworth and Sarah Wood who have supplied this photograph.

Funeral Pc Brian Moore November 1973

A 'Traffic Department' colleague tragically killed in a road traffic accident whilst on duty.