Whakatane pair win patrol title

Senior Constable Dave Robison and his canine sidekick Isaac.

Whakatane's Senior Constable Dave Robison and his four legged partner Isaac are this year's National Police Patrol Dog champions.

Senior Constable Robison and six-year-old Isaac won the Frank Riley Cup for the top police patrol dog team after three days of intense competition in the greater Wellington region.

They beat 11 other police patrol dog teams from around New Zealand to win the prize cup, named after the late Inspector Frank Riley who was the first chief dog trainer for New Zealand Police.

Police Commissioner Mike Bush and Frank Riley's son John presented the top dog cup to the new champions, who also won the William Rose Bowl for criminal work and the Commissioner's Challenge Cup for obedience.

It was a pawsome effort for the Whakatane based team as they finished the competition with 1103 points out of a maximum 1350. A score of over 1000 is rated as outstanding.
Two other handlers and dogs also finished with more than 1000 points.

They were runners-up Senior Constable Gary Donnelly and Blaze from Christchurch with 1042 points, also winners of the Colin Guppy Trophy for tracking, and Senior Constable Andrew Douglas and Ike from Wellington who finished third with 1012 points.

Senior Customs Officer Andrew Baker and Zaria from Auckland won the Narcotic Detector Dog championship, also winning the Customs Cup for the highest marks in locating white powders.

In second place was Corrections Officer Katrina Thomas and Jesse from Auckland with Customs Officer Monica Hoeg and Macca from Wellington in third place.

It was a hat trick for Aviation Security Officer Harvey Jefferies and Shadow from Auckland who won the Explosive Detector Dog championship for the third consecutive year.

Runners-up were Senior Constable Hamish Todd and Cindy from Wellington with Aviation Security Officer Dave Beer and Star from Christchurch in third place.

Six teams from Police, Customs and Corrections competed in the narcotics detection category and four teams from Police and AVSEC in the explosive detector section.

Inspector Todd Southall, national police dog training coordinator, praised the high calibre of all the handlers and dogs selected for this year's nationals.

"It's the 44th time these trials have been held, and they're a lot more than just a competition," he said.

"This week is as much about celebrating our success, challenging ourselves for continual improvement and acknowledging the inter agency partnerships which are critical to the expansion and success of enforcement dog teams in New Zealand."