The police are looking for someone who would be willing to give a former trainee police dog his 'forever home'. 

Jax, who is a 20-month-old, male German Shepherd missed out on being selected as a police dog in the force's puppy programme after joining at three months old. Sadly, Jax didn’t have the determination the force was looking for.

Dogs are selected to go through a strict training programme learning how to use their natural instincts on instruction. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that they will make it through to the dog section, as it’s down to an exam which determines whether they have what it takes to work on the front line.

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The website Julius-K9 UK says: "There are around 2,500 police service dogs operating within police forces across the UK, half of which are in the general-purpose dog unit.

"General purpose police dogs are multi-disciplined canines who are trained to undertake a wide range of skills, including:

• Tracking suspects

• Missing person searches

• Finding and recovering evidence

• Public order and patrols

• Aid in controlling dangerous dogs

  • Protecting the handler in dangerous situations and discouraging threatening behaviour.

Having these dogs trained in such a broad manner makes them a precious addition to territorial police forces across the UK." 

A spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall Police hopes that Jax will find his ‘forever home’. They said: “He is a big lad at 46kg, so you should have experience of handling a large powerful dog.

“But he is very friendly.”

If you're interested in learning more, get in touch with Paul Glennon, Canine Development Officer by email at: paul.glennon@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk