Apr 10 - New Recruits For The GDP Dog Section
Two officers from the Gibraltar Defence Police (GDP) travelled to Melton Mowbray last month to meet three potential recruits for the GDP Dog Section.
GDP officers PC 68 Mario Johnson and PC 92 Christian Jeffries visited the Defence Animal Training Regiment (DATR), the largest Ministry of Defence (MOD) dog training facility in the UK to meet the potential recruits - three Belgian Shepherd working dogs.
The DATR delivers animal handling training for more than 400 personnel and role specific training for hundreds of Military Working Animals per year. The military working dogs are deployed around the world in such places as Cyprus, Brunei, Germany and Afghanistan.
The GDP officers attended the training camp for a few days to observe and work the three Belgium Shepherds - Rayco, Juno and Robin. The three dogs were viewed undergoing different training scenarios from the National Police Dog Assessment model, where the officers assessed their potential for deployment in Gibraltar.
The three dogs demonstrated their skill and tenacity throughout all training scenarios, which included article and building searches together with use of force situations. PC Johnson and PC Jeffries also had the opportunity to work and interact with the dogs on a social level to assess their approachability. Police dogs require being approachable but suspicious at all times.
All dogs performed to a high standard and the GDP officers were satisfied the dogs would be assets for the GDP and would have no problems deploying to Gibraltar.
Rayco is a Belgian Shepherd male from the Netherlands and trained at the DATR. He arrived in Gibraltar on 23 March and is currently carrying out environmental training; this will get him accustomed to the new kennel environment, weather conditions and topography.
Juno and Robin will arrive in Gibraltar later this month. Juno is a gifted dog and has been trained at the DATR since she was a puppy. Robin was trained by the West Midlands Dog Training School and later handed over to the DATR to complete her training before deployment.
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