High standard set at police and detector dog champs

Tasman police district dog handler Constable Julian Lewis and his dog Saegar set a cracking pace at this week’s police dog and detector championships – winning the national patrol dog title amongst other trophies.

As well as collecting the Frank Riley Cup for National Patrol Dog Champion team, the pair won: the Dazuhalten Cup; the Keop Family Trophy; the Colin Guppy Trophy for tracking;  the Monaghan Trophy and Bev Laybourn-Monaghan Memorial Cup for highest marks in heelwork; and the William Rose Bowl for criminal work disciplines.

Twelve police dog handlers and their canine partners competed in the annual event at Trentham this week for the national patrol dog team title having been selected from earlier local trials.

Inspector Brendon Gibson, national coordinator of police dogs, said Constable Lewis and Saegar worked at a very high level throughout the competition and set a benchmark for others to follow.

Other placegetters in the patrol dog teams championship were:
•       Second place – and winner of the Commissioner’s Challenge Cup for obedience – Constable Jamie Kerr and Issac from Whakatane.
•       Third – Constable Andrew Douglas and Ike – Wellington
•       Fourth – Senior Constable Kayne Cording and Yoda – Tauranga
•       Fifth – Constable Stuart Rota and Link – Wellington
•       Sixth – Constable Shane Chambers and Bax – Whanganui
•       Seventh  - Constable Tim Roy and Winda – Timaru
•       Eighth – Senior Constable Andrew Knox and Stein – Hawkes Bay
•       Ninth – Senior Constable Craig Foot and Lore – Auckland
•       Tenth – Senior Constable Steve Tribe and Ali – Blenheim
•       Eleventh – Senior Constable Carl Pennington and Onyx – Auckland
•       Twelfth – Constable Pete Kinane and Gus - Whangarei

Inspector Gibson said it was excellent to see that the success of the police dog breeding programme was reflected in 11 of the 12 patrol dogs competing for national honours all bred by police.

Two fathers competed against their sons.  Saegar sired Bax, and Yoda sired Issac, Ike, Lore and Link.

Two other categories of competition featured narcotic and explosive detector teams comprising Police, Customs, Corrections and Aviation Security handlers.

Senior Constable Ross Clarke and Archie from Auckland won the Narcotic Detector Championship title and the Maidstone Auto Point Trophy for highest marks in locating white powders.