The Ridge Meadows RCMP have a new recruit in a three-month-old German shepherd pup named Angus.
The detachment recently said goodbye to a potential police service dog in Adler, who is being sent to Alberta to be an integral part of the RCMP’s Police Dog Service Training Centre breeding program.
The new recruit, Angus, will train with a local constable over the next several months as he gets ready for his possible future career in policing. Police will develop the dog in the areas of:
• Socialization – promoting a neutral behaviour and being comfortable with other animals, people, places and activities
• Familiarization – promoting a confident behaviour when exposed to a variety of surfaces, obstacles, buildings, etc
• Informal obedience
• Tracking
• Prey and defence drives
Angus will be regularly evaluated, and would start formal training between the ages of 14 to 18 months, if he has success in the Potential Police Service Dog Imprinting Program.
You may seem him outside the local detachment, and can feel free to say hi, but please leaving the handling to officers, asks Ridge Meadoows RCMP.
After their years of service, police dogs generally retire at the age of seven or eight.