Puppy walkers needed for police dog pups (From Dudley News)

Puppy walkers needed for police dog pups

9:00am Saturday 26th May 2012 in News

WEST Midlands Police have launched an urgent hunt to find temporary homes for the newest litter of police puppies.

A team of puppy walkers are needed to take on the 26-strong batch of seven-week-old German Shepherd pups who are ready to leave their mothers.

Fully vetted puppy walkers are responsible for homing their puppy, caring for their needs and crucially, helping them to socialise with people and other dogs.

Experiencing everyday household noise - such as vacuum cleaners, televisions, and washing machines - alongside external influences such as the sight and sound of traffic, also play a key role in the development process.

Anyone over 18 can apply to be a puppy walker, if they have the time to look after the puppy and provide plenty of play time to allow it to develop within a happy, carefree environment.

At six months old, the puppies go through to the crucial six month assessment stage of their training back at the Dog Unit in Balsall Common to see if they have what it takes to become fully operational, effective police dogs.

If successful, they return to their puppy walkers for another few months before undergoing the final assessment stage and being assigned to a police handler ready to begin serious training.

Breed Scheme Manager, PC Terry Arnett, said: "The dogs we train are key members of our team so we want to ensure we do the best by them from the very start and we urgently need to find suitable homes for these puppies as a vital part of that process.

"All we ask is that the puppies are played with in a constructive way and that someone is generally at home for most of the day."

For more information and to complete an application form, please visit www.west-midlands.police.uk/specialist-crime/dogs/breeding-programme.asp or call Breed Scheme Managers PC Terry Arnett or Dave Raymond direct on 0121 626 8202.