New fluffy crime-fighters for Northland

Two male police puppies have arrived in Northland. Photo /Supplied

They're fluffy-faced new recruits but will eventually become the sharp end of crime fighting in Northland.

Two 10-week-old police puppies arrived by plane in Whangarei on Tuesday and have already found foster homes with officers on the beat, until their official training starts in about nine months.

The male puppies are out of the police dog breeding programme, based at the Dog
Training Centre near Wellington, and come from litters beginning with "Y" and "A" - meaning their names will have to start with those letters.

Head of the Northland police dog section Sergeant Bruce McLeod said one of the puppies was in Whangarei and the other was in the mid to Far North.

"They came up by themselves on the plane to Whangarei and both in the same cage."

While formal training was months away the pups would begin basic training straight away and would be exposed to all sorts of environments. The more they can experience the better - loud cars, noisy kids and other dogs.

The puppy from the "Y" litter was from the same bloodlines as a former police dog on the beat in Northland known as "Buddy" who had a reputation for being a very keen worker.

There are five canine crime teams on the beat in Northland sniffing out criminals. Police dogs respond to more than 30,000 incidents each year across New Zealand.