New breed of South Yorkshire Police dogs are set for duty

The eight pups, five boys and three girls, were born in September this year to a German Shepherd mother and Belgian Malinois father, as Harry Morton, South Yorkshire Police’s Dog Training School manager said: “The cross between German Shepherd and Belgian Malinois has proven to be very successful on a national scale for police forces and other agencies.”

“The temperaments of both breeds are very similar; they are both intelligent, confident and extremely hard-working dogs. However, while the German Shepherd is renowned for their ability to excel when trained, they are a much calmer dog than the Malinois, who is much more active, energetic and go-getting than the German Shepherd.

“It is our first venture into a crossbreed style litter as we have always bred pure German Shepherds as general purpose dogs, however I am quite excited at the prospects with our latest additions, as they should make excellent police dogs.”

The pups, Quadie, Q, Quattro, Quartz, Quantum, Quinn, Queenie and Qjack, are now 13-weeks old and fully settled in with their volunteer puppy walkers and will be spending their first Christmas with their adopted families.

They will undergo various training sessions every month until they are 12-months-old when, if they are ready, they will begin their training and assessments to become working police dogs.

The pups were born at the Dog Training School at Niagara in Hillsborough, and cared for by volunteer puppy watchers. The dog training facility is one of only six National Police Chief’s Council approved dog training centres within the UK.

The school also operates one of the most renowned police dog breeding schemes in the country, South Yorkshire Police’s puppy breeding programme, which was established in 2008.

Harry said: “The programme relies heavily upon volunteers, both puppy walkers and watchers, and these people are you, members of the public.

“By giving up your own time to help us, there have been 23 litters bred at the centre and at volunteers’ homes, with more than 80 dogs making the grade as a police or working dog, and I would personally like to thank everyone who is, or ever has been involved, as without your help the scheme would not operate.”

He added: “Our dogs have gone on to serve and protect the public in South Yorkshire, as well as joining other police forces all over the UK, with some travelling even further afield and becoming police dogs at the reinstated dog section at the Royal Gibraltar Police and the Barbados Prison Service.

“Our dogs have also journeyed outside the police force, working for organisations including HM Prison Service, Ministry of Defence and Fire and Rescue Services.

“We train all our dogs as well as our dog handlers at the school, plus handlers from other forces, agencies and private security services, and the training both receive is absolutely essential to not only learn the skills required, but to build a strong and unbreakable bond between dog and handler, which is invaluable in this line of work.”