Blue Peter

Episode 50 (2005x50)

Air date: Apr 18, 2005

Northumbria Police Dog technology The Northumbria Police force demonstrated the latest police dog technology with their playful pooch, Butch. The fidocam is a mini camera, which police dogs wear on their heads when they are searching buildings for police suspects. Using the camera, the police officers can see the image beamed back to a little monitor and instruct the dog on it's movements using a little speaker on the camera. We also met Alfie, a 14 week old puppy training to become a police dog. It takes 12 weeks of initial training to become a general police dog and then the best of those go on to become camera dogs. There is currently a national shortage of puppies donated by the public so if you are looking to give a puppy (no older than two years of age) a new home contact your local police force to see whether it may be suitable for them. There is a rigorous training course to be completed and those puppies who aren't suitable for a police dog's life will need to be re