Commonwealth puppies all grown up and getting ready for Games
West Midlands Police has shared new photos of the five dogs who will go on to work at the Commonwealth Games, one year after introducing them to the world.
The five puppies were named after local sporting stars, and as part of the Puppy Development Programme, will perform vital security work at the Birmingham 2022 Games.
Since their birth last year, the five dogs have been looked after by West Midlands Police's volunteer puppy fosterers, who looked after them until they were old enough to be assessed and move on to the next stage in their career as detection dogs.
The cocker spaniels are named Ellie, Jodie, Tessa, Fraser, and Tommy, after Ellie Symonds, Jodie Stimpson, Tessa Sanderson, Joe Fraser, and Tommy Godwin.
The dogs were recently put through their 12 month assessment - an important milestone in their development where resident dog experts decide whether the dogs have what it takes to become fully-fledged police dogs.
If they pass, the famous five will work across the Birmingham 2022 venues and play their part in the largest policing operation West Midlands Police has ever conducted,
Richard Large, West Midlands Police dog development officer, said: “We’ve worked with the puppies over the last year and had an idea of what they were capable of but they’ve actually really impressed me.
"All of the puppies come through the programme at different levels, so the assessments identify which dogs need a bit more development. Ellie is the star of the show at the moment and showing real promise.
“The next stage is for us to put them through their six week intensive training course, where they really start to develop bespoke skills before they are allocated to police dog handlers ready for the really important search function that we need them for ahead of the Games in July.”
