Two police officers will represent Kent in the regional heats of the prestigious National Police Dog Trials.

PC Sam Appleby with her three-year-old German Shepherd, Victor, and PC Jenny Preston with her seven-year-old German Shepherd, Nap, will compete against officers from other police forces in the regional heats in Surrey in March.

PC Ray Bovis with his three-year-old German Shepherd, Wez, will be a reserve.

PC Sam Appleby

PC Appleby, from south Kent, has been with Kent Police for 14 years and in the Dog Unit for six. She and Victor came third in the regional trials last year.

She said: 'The dogs are trained every day, but it’s a bit like training for a sport, if we do the same thing all the time they will get bored so we try and make it fun for them.

'Victor is a general purpose dog and like the others specialises in searching persons and property as well as tracking, chasing and detaining offenders.'

PC Jenny Preston

PC Preston, also from south Kent, has been with Kent Police for 21 years and in the Dog Unit for nine.

She and Nap previously reached the national finals in Ireland in 2006 and the regional finals in 2008.  Nap is due for retirement so this maybe his last opportunity for the dog trials.

PC Preston said: 'I’m really pleased to be taking part in this event and representing Kent Police.
‘Every police dog has to work towards a set of excellent standards in a range of disciplines and along with PC Appleby and PC Bovis we have worked really hard to reach those standards.'

Successful history 

Acting Inspector Jason Brown from the Kent Police Dog Unit said: 'Kent has had a very successful history in terms of national police dog titles over the last few years (six titles in total) as well as hosting the National Police Dog Trials in probably the finest venue of all time last year: Leeds Castle. 

'We now hope to build on this success with Sam and Jenny who have worked extremely hard to get this far and wish them the best of luck in this year's event.

'It is important to remember that these are operational police dogs who are out patrolling Kent's streets putting into practice the skills in preparation for the trials.'

Dog trials

The regional trial runs from Friday 19 March to Sunday 21 March. The dogs and handlers will be marked on things such as property and people searching, obedience and chasing and detaining.

If successful they will take part in the National Dog Trials in Lincolnshire later in the year and compete with more than 30 police officers from across the UK.

Posted on: 28 January 2010