Meeting the police dogs of the future

Mark Mackintosh and Maro from TVP met BBC Radio Berkshire's Katie Tyler

Four-month-old springer spaniel Maro is only part way through his socialising training for Thames Valley Police (TVP).

He lives with his volunteer puppy socialiser Mark Mackintosh and his family, who will look after him until he is about a year old. Then he will return to the police force for further training.

"It will be pretty tough. My kids are very attached to him; I'm very attached to him," Mr Mackintosh said.

"He's a lovely boy. But we know he's got a really important job to do so it'll be worth it in the end," Mr Mackintosh, who works in TVP's corporate communications team, added.

Named after the England rugby star Maro Itoje, he is currently getting used to environments that he might not otherwise come across as a family pet.

"It involves taking him into shopping centres and up and down escalators," Mr Mackintosh told BBC Radio Berkshire on a visit to TVP's Sulhamstead training centre on Thursday.

"I took him into a care home to meet people he might not come across as a typical pet.

"He has to meet people. He has to meet people wearing hi-vis, he has to meet men with beards, people wearing hats, that kind of thing. Anything that might be a distraction for a dog, he needs to get used to so he's not distracted [in the future]."

Maro sometimes goes to work with Mr Mackintosh and, on the days he is working from home, the puppy sits at his feet.

He said volunteering to be a puppy socialiser for the police has been enjoyable so far, with Maro his first police dog.

"As long as you have got the time to put in and the dog's not going to be left on their own for more than four hours then go for it. It's a wonderful thing to do," Mr Mackintosh added.

Lacey is undergoing training with TVP

Fourteen-month-old labrador Lacey has nearly finished her training as a police dog.

Looked after by TVP's Michaela Taylor, who works for its dog training unit, they spend most of the day together and live at the same home with another force dog, Rebel.

"For me, the satisfaction I get is when my dog and I find someone or something that we couldn't have found without us," she said.

"It's the look on my dog's face when they know they've made me proud. That's the reward for me."