Well check me out! I wonder if there is a spot in the police for a motorcycle dog?
Police motorcycle rider Senior Constable Greg Rose dropped by the other day to say hi to Dave and I, and WOW is his police motorbike awesome!
The afternoon got even better when my new friend ‘Nina’ from the Australian Federal Police also called in to say hello. I thought the motorbike was beautiful, until I saw Nina!
What a shame, Dave put me in the back of the police car before I could get a chance to really introduce myself to Nina properly.
Maybe I can use my new-found tracking skills to track her down?
Aside from my great afternoon with the police motorbike and meeting Nina, Dave has been keeping me very busy.
This week I got to try bite-work, now I’m playing with the ‘big boys’! I cannot begin to explain how much fun bite work is. I get to run, I get to bite and I get to swing around! Dave was very happy with how well I did. Lots of pats and lots of toy time for me!
I’m off to track for Nina!
Axel
Handler Michael Corlette keeps a close eye on the the lovely Nina .
Handler’s note:
- Bite work is a very important aspect of police dog training. The dogs are trained in specific ways to take hold of offenders.
- Axel has already been exposed to a couple of stages of bite-work. Initially he is taught to bite and hold with his toy. This is done through a game of tug-of-war. Axel is extremely attached to his toy so this was an easy game for him.
- Axel then progressed to the stage where a training bite-arm (as seen in the video) replaces the toy, again in a game of tug-of-war.
- The video of Axel shows how he has now progressed to the stage where he can now run at an offender and take hold of the bite arm. After some further training, the bite arm will soon be replaced with a full body bite suit (always a pleasure for a handler to wear in the humid Cairns climate!)
Sergeant Dave Raymond, Officer in Charge, Cairns Dog Squad.
