General purpose dogs, mainly German Shepherds, have 13 weeks initial training and 16 days continuation training throughout the year.

Drug dogs, mainly Springer Spaniels, have six weeks initial training. The drug screening dog is a Weimeraner.

The explosive dogs, Springer Spaniels or Border Collies, have eight weeks initial training.

These specialist search dogs all have 20 days continuation training throughout the year.

Puppies are eight weeks old when they start their training. The force uses males because of their larger stature.

The working life of a general purpose dog is about eight years, while search dogs can work for up to twelve years. They are then retired, usually going to live with their handler's family, but if this is not possible they will go to a suitable new owner used to keeping working animals, such as a gamekeeper.

Dogs given to us by members of the public are usually between 12 and 18 months old. However, the force also takes on adult animals, usually 18 to 21 months old, bold, outgoing, good at retrieval and physically fit.

Here you can view some video footage of the dog section.

Launch high quality video (broadband users).

Launch low quality video (dial-up users).

The video features subtitles which can be switched on or off at any time by clicking the "Turn subtitles on/off" button shown at the top right of the video.

Sounds are indicated by italic text between asterisks
e.g. Let's test the alarm *A high pitched beeping alarm sounds*

Emphasis is shown by bolding certain words
e.g. Put down the gun now!

When more than one person is speaking, the speech of each person is shown in a different colour
e.g. How are you today? Very well thank you