Summer catch-up: Police dog given rare promotion

NEW ROLE: Constable Regan Mauheni and his dog Thor are now both in the Armed Offenders Squad. PHOTO/FILE

When Constable Regan Mauheni and his dog Thor were named winners of the prestigious Erridge Cup they were following in the foot - and paw - steps of two other Rotorua police dog teams before them.

Now the duo are striving to continue in that vein of excellence with Thor recently accepted into the Armed Offenders Squad. Mr Mauheni has been a member of the squad for the past two years but until last month he had to leave Thor behind.

"Only certain dogs get put forward for it," he said.

"They get put through a range of scenarios, firearms, things being thrown at them, loud noises and making sure nothing's going to bother them. They also have to work with other dogs."

Of the five police dogs based in Rotorua, only two have been accepted into the AOS. The other, Dredd, is trained by Constable Colin Robson. The other dogs are trained to be search and rescue dogs.

Mr Mauheni and Thor have yet to be deployed in their AOS roles and since their Erridge Cup win this year - for being the best police dog handler and dog in their first year - it has been "business as usual".

"We've had nothing out of the ordinary, just consolidating our street work. We've had collars most nights, your standard burglaries, thefts, domestic violence jobs." And, says Mr Mauheni, swimming in the lakes to cool off.