NEW MINAS, N.S. – Pups from across Nova Scotia got a chance Tuesday to strut their stuff in a number of tests to see which ones can make the cut as police service dogs.
“They need to have courage, and you see some dogs run right in and that’s what’s you want to see,” said RCMP Sgt. Rick Bushey.
The RCMP Puppy Rearing Program started because it was getting too expensive for the Mounties to purchase dogs overseas.
“We were competing all around the world to buy top quality dogs for general police duties, and when the wall came down in the communist countries, the whole world market opened up and we just couldn’t compete anymore,” said RCMP Cpl. Glenn Brown.
Raising a puppy through the program is a mandatory step for officers who want to become dog handlers.
“Usually they’re about eight to 10 weeks of age and you raise the puppies to be a police dog under the supervision of a dog handler,” Glenn said.
Officers raise the puppies on their own time, outside of their regular duties.
“They have to be committed to the program itself and every dog handler has gone through this,” said Bushey.
Const. Nick MacLean said being a dog handler is what he’s always wanted to do.
“This is the job I want, this is the ideal job for me,” he said. “This is everything I wanted since I joined the force, so I’ll put the time in now and hopefully down the road I can get into this section.”
Each dog is evaluated every four months for the first year of its life, then it’s determined if it will be suitable for training — and some aren’t.
“It might be the first time out and you can tell something about that dog at four or five months old that’s suitable or not suitable,” said Bushey.
Brown said the ones that don’t make it are sold as pets or to other police agencies.
The ones selected to complete service dog training will be chosen in the spring.
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