Meet the latest four-legged police recruit aiming to make it as canine crime fighter in North Wales

A two-month-old puppy is the latest four-legged recruit aiming to make it as a canine crime fighter in North Wales. ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

Trainee Police Dog Vega, a gorgeous Belgian Malinois pup is the newest member of the Cheshire and North Wales Police Dog unit. ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

TPD Vega will join the team soon and “begin his journey” to becoming a general purpose police dog. ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

The Cheshire and North Wales dog section has over 20 dog handlers and around 40 dogs which provide a 24-hour, seven day a week response across the two force areas. ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

The unit launched its own puppy programme five years ago and has an 85 per cent success rate in training the dogs so that they make the grade. ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

Most police handlers will have a general purpose dog like Vega and a specialist dog. ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

Once a dog is allocated to a handler it will remain with them for the duration of its working life which is usually around eight years. ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

Vega will go through environmental training, getting used to public places, traffic, noise and exposed to different people and other animals for up to 18 months before going on more specific police dog training courses. ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

Sharing a post on social media, a spokesperson for the team said: “Meet Our latest puppy recruit TPD Vega who is currently 2 months old. He will be joining us very soon to begin his journey to become a general purpose police dog. Vega is very well bred so we’re expecting great things from him.” ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

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