Woohoo! It’s official, I’m finally an official Police Dog (PD).
I’m now out on the beat in Cairns with Dave and love it when I’m called PD Axel.
I can’t believe how time flies when you’re having so much fun.
I spent a massive 14 weeks at the Queensland Police Academy and learnt so many things in such a short amount of time.
I did miss Dave and PD Vader though, but I had so many other people and dogs to hang with whilst I was on course.
I’ve been back in Cairns now for a few weeks now and I’m having the best time eva!
Woohoo – my first shift out on the road with Dave!
Since I started in Cairns, it has been non stop. I’ve located two people from different jobs, one of whom was a woman who was allegedly threatening to do self harm.
I found her hiding at a unit block in Edmonton and she was able to go to hospital for medical treatment.
On another job, I tracked a man who’d been trespassing at a local school ground.
I was working with PD Vader for two weeks before he suddenly passed away in his sleep. He was showing me the ropes as my mentor and was proud as punch to see me get my first successful track.
I’ve been quite emotional over the past few weeks. Whilst I’ve been very excited about my new job, I miss PD Vader sooooooo much. I know Dave does too. He’s been like a big brother to me. I was learning so much from the big fella as I was able to copy his behaviour and learn from his experience.
I feel so bad that PD Vader didn’t get to see out his retirement years watching me do my thing and showing off all the tricks of the trade.
I’ve been doing plenty of community events and even got to pop into Aloomba State School and Gordonvale State High School to visit with some of the kids. I called by to say gidday to Barry, Fran and Rhonda at the Edmonton Neighbourhood Watch group recently too.
Police work is not all games and meaty bones. A few weeks ago I spent the most part of Thursday morning out in the bush looking for a missing 75-year-old lady.
We were very worried about her, but I was so excited to do something new and rated myself quite highly. I thought I’d be heading to the next job soon enough.
I went hard for the first hour, but then it got a bit hot and hard to keep tracking at that fast pace. A few hours later the lady was found by some of the SES volunteers who were also out on the heat searching. Gee I loved their bright orange overalls.
Knowing the lady was safe, I was more than happy to get a big drink of water and then rest in the air conditioned car with Dave and head back to Cairns.
Axel is always ready for action
I can’t believe this police work gig is a job. I’m having so much fun with Dave and all my new police friends.
The best part about my job is that everything feels like a game to me and I can’t wait to get to the next one. The police recruiting brochures all say, “We don’t do boring!”. That’s certainly the case for me too.
I just hope Dave can keep up with me.
Now that I’ve graduated I get to have a special ceremony later in the year. No doubt it will be all about me, just the way I like it. I’ll probably get a handshake or a medal or something cool like that.
Whilst I don’t know the date yet, I’ll be sure to let you know when it happens.
In the mean time, stay tuned as I will no doubt have plenty more to tell in the near future.
Gotta go, I think it’s time to get ready for work again. WOOHOOOOOOO – I love this job!
Axel
Dave and Axel are a great team!
Handler’s note: PD Axel still has a long way to go as he is young, but with the constant training, he is proving to have all the qualities of being a great crime fighter.
One exercise the dogs trained for, is area searches. This is different to tracking because of the vast area the dog is required to search.
Instead of relying on human scent on the ground the dogs look for scent in the air. The dogs are able to pick human scent up by more than half a kilometre, however with such a large area to search, it can be a bit hit and miss to search in the correct area.
A few weeks ago we were called to help search for a woman in her 70s after she went missing in the Mt Garnet area. Unfortunately our dog team commenced a search in an area well away from where the woman was eventually located.
There was a fantastic end to this search though. The State Emergency Service (SES) members were out in force and numbers proved crucial. They put in a magnificent effort to locate the missing woman safe and well.
A number of years ago, a man jumped from a white water raft on the Tully River, swam to the river bank, ran into bush and hid from rescuers because he was suffering from a medical condition.
Our search was hampered by two bus loads of people who tried to help by joining the search for the man. Over a two hour period people walked around the search zone before our dog squad team were called in to commence a search.
In less than three minutes our dog had located the man safe, even though he was in need of further medical treatment.
These tracking skills are regularly on display and are an absolute credit to our four-legged colleagues.
Sergeant Dave Raymond, Officer in Charge, Cairns Dog Squad.