Police 'face shortage of puppies'

Tango and Lupas are both members of the Dorset Police canine squad

Dorset Police is facing a shortage of puppies it can train as police dogs.

The force's dog unit said it urgently needed breeders to come forward because they only have one dog to train later this year instead of four.

The force has also been trying to find new places where they can train their dogs and have appealed to the public to offer them access to their premises.

The force has more than 25 canines in service - recent recruits include Lupas and Xena, who began training in April.

Insp Alan Ewart said: "Our dogs need to have a very high degree of enthusiasm, determination, dedication and they need to be around 15 months old to be suitable to train as police dogs.

"We're having real difficulties at the moment finding dogs with the right characteristics to book on to our October course."

He said ideal dogs need to "love what they're doing and really want to work with and for their handlers."

New challenge

The handlers recreate incidents and scenarios so that the dogs can practice in preparation for real incidents.

Training takes place in schools, industrial units, farm buildings or outdoors at sites across Dorset but the force is struggling to find suitable premises.

Insp Ewart added: "We are currently looking for buildings to use to add variety to the dogs training.

"Taking part in training in buildings they have not been in before will also give the dogs a new challenge."

The buildings being sought need to be fairly large and could include office blocks, hotels, schools or industrial units and, which should ideally be vacant.