Police dog teams demonstrate their skills

Members of the community who allow the Wiltshire Police dog unit to train on their premises were invited in for a special demonstration.

Police dogs require regular training within a variety of different environments to ensure they are able to deal with live incidents. 

Throughout the year, they make use of various sites around the county to test their skills. 

These sites include a cinema, football club, college, a manor house, golf club and vehicle recovery centre.

The owners of the venues were invited into police headquarters in Devizes to meet the team, including the dogs, and see them put their skills into action. 

Dog Unit manager Ian Partington said: “Today was really about saying thank you and showing these people why the facilities they offer us enable us to do what we do. 

“Our dogs need a change of environment and without these facilities which are kindly provided to us, they’d only ever be able to operate within a field. The dogs can be required to assist frontline police officers at such a wide range of places which will each pose different challenges, so having different venues to train in is such a huge advantage.”

Wiltshire Police currently has 12 dog handlers and 25 police dogs including General Purpose dogs, drugs, cash and weapons search dogs, explosives search dogs and firearms support dogs. 

“It is all about the dogs' noses,” said Ian. 

“The dog's nose is a biological miracle and can do things that no equipment would ever be able to do. It’s a unique area of policing – the dogs all live with their handlers so they have a really strong connection but they have to train regularly to ensure they don’t lose any of their skills.”

PC Steve Duffy, who is one of the dog trainers, added: “We can’t train the dogs in a sterile environment – we need to make it as real as possible for them so these venues help us do that. It’s really good to have a big portfolio of properties to choose from and we are really grateful to everyone involved. We want to be out in the community showing people what we do, giving the public a chance to see the dogs in action and our presence also helps act as a deterrent to any criminal activity.”

During the event, the venue owners were shown some of the dogs' skill including a chase and detain, recall, biting and searching.

Darren Perrin, Charimon of Melksham Football Club, said: “When Ian asked if the dog unit could use the football ground for their training we were more than happy to say yes, and just delighted that we are able to help the police. 

“It has been a real eye opener to come and hear all about how the dogs work, some of the things they can do is just phenomenal.”