LIVING THE DREAM

STEPH ALLINSON TAKES HER TWO BEST FRIENDS, PD JAX & OTIS, TO WORK WITH HER EVERYDAY

Time to put your paws up now, retirement has arrived.

Police Dog Otis is my drugs, cash firearms and ammunition detection dog that I have told you all about previously. He is now eight years old, and he is a Golden Labrador. Otis came from Castleside Labradors when he was an eight-week-old pup and has been a police dog ever since.

In July last year, I noticed he became lame after a good run; I have had him back and forth to the vets, and after some investigation work, Otis has been diagnosed with arthritis in his shoulders. A common complaint for his age and his breed. After consultation with the vet and my supervisor, we have made the decision to retire Otis from front-line duties and give him the rest he deserves after a full seven-year Police dog career. He will be having cortisone injections under sedation in his shoulders to help him feel more comfortable and once completed, he will be retiring to a life of luxury, probably on the sofa next to the fire, if I can get him to leave his kennel which he loves.

I have been lucky enough to have Otis in my life for two years now, and he has been a fabulous canine workmate. He was rehandled to me two years ago when his previous handler retired.

Drug Detection Dog Facts

• It takes roughly 8 weeks to train a dog to detect.

• The dogs think they are looking for their tennis ball.

• Training leads the dog to associate that toy with the smell of drugs.

• Our dogs are ball rewarded for each find.

• Gloucestershire Police force had a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, PD Stella, trained in detection work, a first for this breed.

So we have only had a relatively short career together, but a very busy and successful one. I consider myself to be so lucky to have been able to work him. Everybody loves Otis.

On our last deployment, PD Otis uncovered a huge amount of compressed blocks of white powder believed to be cocaine from underneath a paving slab in a garden in Cheshire. It was undetectable to the human eye, but once Otis became interested in a paving slab, I knew I needed to think outside the box and help him get to the source. After walking over the slabs and finding a loose one, I picked it up for him, and his nose went straight to the source immediately.

It’s very much a team effort to find drugs. Sometimes I have to move stuff around for him to allow him to work quicker and easier.

The team were thrilled with this find, and the job is still under investigation. The true value is not known yet, but let’s just say it’s a lot of money and a huge amount of dangerous drugs off the street. Without that indication from Otis, I would never have known to lift paving slabs.

Otis will be retiring and staying at home with my family and me; we want to give him the retirement he deserves. He has such a lovely nature and temperament, he is so friendly and loves to work, so I might consider volunteering to turn him into a therapy dog. I know he would be wonderful. Over the past two years, he has attended countless community events and school presentations, and he is good at community engagement. He is also very popular with schoolchildren.

The Police will most likely give me a new dog to replace Otis soon. I will really miss having him in my van and being with him all shift. I know he will adjust to being at home soon, but at the moment he is confused and sad when I leave without him. Rest assured though, after 3 or 4 minutes he is back to snoozing on the living room floor.

When PD Otis officially retires, he will be presented with a certificate of service from our senior management - I can’t wait to buy him a colourful collar and lead and enjoy him as a pet.

We tend to use Labradors, Spaniels and Sprockers for our detection dogs. We are training dogs up to go on a course in the summer to become digital media detection dogs as well as cadaver dogs and seminal detection dogs, something we haven’t done before at Cheshire.

PD Jax is still doing great and as I write this, we have just finished searching the hard shoulder of the M56. Offenders had thrown stolen items out of their van window whilst being pursued by Police. No problem for PD Jax though, we retraced their steps and found the power tools used to commit four burglaries in the North Wales Police area.

PD Jax and I will be at Dogfest this year, we will be doing a display for spectators and a meet and greet at the vehicles. I might even bring Otis in for the day. If you’re there visiting this year, come and say Hello.

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