Police search puppy at work

Mo - GMP general-purpose police dog in training.

Mo is one of Greater Manchester Police's general-purpose police dogs in training. The Force’s Tactical Dog Unit provides general-purpose dogs, usually German Shepherds, to assist in day-to-day policing. The majority of general purpose police dogs are German Shepherds but other breeds are considered including Rottweilers, Belgium Shepherds and Giant Schnauzers.

The unit also provides specialist search dogs trained to search for objects including drugs, cash, explosives, and even bodies. Here is a photograph of one of Greater Manchester Police’s specialist search dogs in training.

In order to keep the dogs interested in searching, a variety of different locations are used during training. This dog is searching through the various sections of a local activity and adventure centre.

GMP has over 110 dogs, who are involved in important operational duties such as tracking, building searches, pursuing fleeing suspects, and other criminal work across Greater Manchester.

Each police dog is assigned its own handler who will accompany them throughout their service. The dogs and handlers build a close bond during training which extends throughout the animal's life with the Force. They can work for up to seven years and most go on to spend a happy retirement with their handler.