Dyfed-Powys Police is putting its newest recruit through his paces to see if he can train to be on the team.
Only four-months-old, police puppy Billy is springing into action to see if he can become a fully-fledged police dog.
Also the youngest member of the dog’s section, the Springer Spaniel would become a specialist sniffer dog if he passes his first assessment at the end of the summer to make sure he is trainable for the role.
Billy is currently spending time with his handler, PC John Llewellyn so he can get used to being around other dogs as well as police officers on duty.
PC Llewellyn said: “Billy has been living at home with my family and two other police dogs - PD Dash, who is also a spaniel, and PD Cassie, a general purpose dog - for a few months.
“Until his assessment, I’ll take him out on operations and into police stations. He’s always a welcome visitor and he gets a lot of attention. It helps him too because it makes him more comfortable around people, which is important.
“Spaniels are the perfect breed for sniffing out drugs, cash, firearms or anything they are trained to, because their noses are so powerful.
“Billy will be assessed when he’s nearly one to see if he can be trained. If he can’t, sadly I’ll have to re-home him, but I’m not thinking about that for now.”
Police dogs are invaluable in helping the force protect the community and in helping them to safeguard vulnerable people.
Specialist sniffer dogs work as long as they are fit, well and able to carry out their duties.
If Billy passes all of his training, he will replace PD Dash who has worked with PC Llewellyn for ten years.
Follow the Dyfed-Powys Police’s dog section Twitter account for updates on Billy’s progress and for more information about the force’s police dogs.