Police dogs and handlers look to retain titles

COMPETITION: Senior Constable Dave Robison and German shepherd Isaac from Whakatane (left) and Senior Constable Phillip (Tiny) Taylor and black Labrador Murphy from Rotorua. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

The pressure will be on for two Bay of Plenty-based police dogs and their handlers as they work together to retain competiton titles.

Three New Zealand Police dogs and their handlers flew to Melbourne at the weekend in a bid to retain individual and team titles at the Australian and NZ Police Dog Trials.

Senior Constable Phillip (Tiny) Taylor and black Labrador Murphy from Rotorua are in the narcotics detector category.

Senior Constable Dave Robison and German shepherd Isaac from Whakatane, along with Senior Constable Owen Davies and German shepherd Quid from Auckland, are competing in the patrol dog category.

Inspector Todd Southall, national co-ordinator police dogs, said New Zealand Police had won six of the seven trials since they first began in 1988.

"Our patrol and detector dog teams are very experienced so we're hoping this bodes well for next week."

During the six-day competition, teams will be tested in agility, speed, tracking, building and property searches, obedience and other tasks based on operational incidents.

The competition concludes with a public display at Lakeside Oval in Melbourne on October 29.