(cont)

The room was silent and cold as Leo headed straight for us, and regardless of the fact that he knew Andy and me, was unwavering in his duty, finding and cornering us immediately with a dramatic baritone bark.

Whilst the dogs bite only as a last resort and only after the team has exhausted all other possibilities when a suspect is resisting arrest, it’s nonetheless an essential skill for the animals to have. The appearance of a snarling police dog is intimidating, which is extremely useful, but with 700lbs psi of jaw at the Dog Section’s disposal, it’s a quick, easy and disciplined way to apprehend a suspect resisting arrest or one who is demonstrably violent towards officers. Each dog can snarl and bark on command but can instantly be calmed – the discipline is extraordinary – and when told to be quiet, the dogs are instantly as gentle and nice-natured as any domestic pet.

Usually the intimidating nature of the dogs is enough to make a suspect think twice about taking on the section, but on occasion, each must be able to physically apprehend a suspect by holding their right arm, a position which renders a usually right handed suspect severely limited. The dogs are taught to hold rather than bite down with their full force, and employ one solid hold rather than several bites, minimising the harm to the detainee.

The moment came to take an active part in training Jake, and so I was given a Kevlar reinforced bulletproof sleeve designed to be strong enough to resist the dogs’ teeth but slim enough to providing a convincing body shape. At the end of a long lead, Andy then proceeded to release a barking Jake on his quaking eight and a half stone Editor with the command “Stop Him!”, only for the dog to run towards me at around 30mph and make a fierce grab at my arm.
Escape was impossible, removing my arm was impossible, and even with Kevlar padding, I still came away from the day with a few minor marks on my arms where the teeth had penetrated the bulletproof Kevlar. I was flat on the ground within ten to fifteen seconds… it was truly impressive and truly intimidating, but exceptionally disciplined and absolutely harmless.

Andy was able to shout instructions to me throughout, but the immediate moment he shouted “Out”, the dog released me, and sat down in silence. The control was phenomenal. A second go with Lee Daubney’s Nero saw me actually enjoying the experience and Andy even told me I could shout at the dog and wind him up to really