Bay of Plenty police duo's journey to feature in finale television show

Constable Andrew Smart (left) with Talon and Constable Scott Gosnell with Apex on their graduation day. Photo / Dog Squad Puppy School TVNZ

A Bay of Plenty police dog handler and dog's journey to graduation will feature on national television tomorrow night.

Constable Andrew Smart and his dog Talon have been operational for 10 months now but their training efforts have been part of the television show Dog Squad Puppy School this year.

Tomorrow will be the final episode of the series, which has documented Talon's growth since he first began with New Zealand Police, according to the Police Ten One magazine.

Smart said Talon was going well and recently qualified as a search and rescue dog "so he's doing good - we're still finding our feet".

Smart said that while Talon was still "pretty young and a bit immature for AOS [Armed Offenders Squad]" the latest badge gave him a speciality to add to his general duty work.

"The next step for him in terms of further development is to train in victim recovery work."

The past 10 months have also been a learning curve for Smart, as a first-time handler.

"I came from frontline Public Safety Team. It's similar in the sense you're responding to the same type of role but you do feel a lot more responsibility. It's easy to put a lot of pressure on yourself as people are looking to you.

"It's a huge learning curve - it doesn't stop - but it's great seeing the dog develop. I enjoy the autonomy of the role and knowing I can 100 per cent count on Talon having my back."

Smart and Talon will feature alongside Waikato Constable Scott Gosnell and Apex, who graduated with them in June 2020 and will also face their final appearance on the show.

Dog Squad Puppy School airs at 7.30pm on TV One on Tuesday.