As much as Axel loved Bree, one case he was called to really showed the difference between home-Axel and work-Axel. Bree worked as a detective in Dandenong, and one day, both she and Brad were called to the same armed robbery. The armed bandit had run from the scene, and a dog and handler were needed for the track.
Brad got Axel from the back of the police station wagon and clipped on his harness. He could see Bree standing close by, talking to other detectives. Axel – the king of pats and hugs – did not acknowledge Bree at all. He was in full work mode. Even though Axel could recognise Bree by sight, smell and voice, he did not give her so much as a glance. Not even when Brad ran the dog right past Bree.
Because the surrounding area had been quickly cordoned off, the armed offender was caught by patrolling police before Brad and Axel finished tracking him. A great result either way.
One of the most gratifying jobs for Brad involved a break-in at a school in Cranbourne. The first officers at the scene found the point of entry at the school canteen. The door was shut and locked, but windows next to the door were broken. It was hard to tell if the thieves had got in and stolen something or if they had just broken the windows and run off. Either way, the alarm in the canteen had been triggered. A security guard let the police officers inside, but nothing looked disturbed.
As luck would have it, there was some police training happening in the area and the participating officers were called in to cordon off the school, leaving one way in and one way out.
Brad and Axel arrived soon after.
It was pouring with rain and Brad knew that the weather conditions had the potential to interfere with the scent trails. He put Axel in his tracking harness and hoped for the best. Brad cast the dog, and while he could tell Axel was picking up bits of a track, he wasn’t going crazy for it like he usually did. Axel tracked through the school and across the oval.
Meanwhile, a couple of police officers cordoning off the perimeter had found two teenage boys loitering just outside the school. The police officers called them over and asked them if they’d been in the school. The boys denied it, but one of the cops said, ‘There’s a police dog in there and the dog will track you to here and find you.’
That changed their minds; suddenly the two boys looked a little nervous.
‘Yeah, we were in the school,’ one of them admitted.
‘What did you do?’
‘We smashed two windows with a hammer,’ he said.
‘Did you go into any rooms?’
‘Nah.’ The boys shook their heads.
Getting the intel over the police radio, another handler on the scene suggested that Brad let Axel go to see if the dog could find the hammer. Near the canteen, Axel got nothing. Brad was about to put Axel back in the car, figuring that the pouring rain had washed the scent everywhere, which was why the track was spotty. But then he decided to give it one last try.
Brad returned with Axel to the oval, where the dog had found a track earlier. Near the back of the school, Axel headed to what looked like a market garden attached to the school. Both dog and handler went through a hole in the fence, and Brad noticed Axel put his nose in the air. He knew from training that air scenting can mean the dog has something and it is close by. Axel headed between the garden and a shed but didn’t come up with anything.
Brad called him back. The dog didn’t respond.
Brad called him again, and the dog took half a step towards his handler, but then stopped near an upturned wheelbarrow. Suspicious, Brad went over to investigate. Underneath the wheelbarrow, he found a black sports bag. In the bag was the cash drawer from the canteen and a bunch of chocolates and drinks.
It appeared the two boys had done more than just smash windows.
As soon as Brad had investigated the wheelbarrow, Axel took off again. He ran straight into the shed and stopped next to a bench, eyes on a hammer. The hammer. Next to the hammer was a phone and wallet belonging to one of the kids.
What Axel found turned the case from one of criminal damage to a case of burglary.
That job had all the hallmarks of a dud – bad weather, hard to track – but in the end, Axel had come through with the goods.
Brad has learnt a lot in his months on active duty with a police dog. He has learnt that all police dogs have different personalities. Like all the other handlers before him, he has had to learn to trust his dog. If you get to a job and your instinct tells you that the crook must have taken a certain route, but the dog says otherwise, you have to trust the dog. He still has to problem-solve every day in order to improve and extend Axel’s training. As much as the other handlers help, every dog requires a different answer.
Not all jobs are successful. If his dog doesn’t pick up a scent, Brad might lie awake at night, second-guessing himself. Being new to the job, he hasn’t yet figured out all of Axel’s idiosyncrasies. Other handlers reckon true synchronicity takes around six months. In the meantime, the new handler spends a lot of time trying to figure out what his dog’s behaviour might mean. With every success, the confidence grows. With every failure, Brad learns something new. Having a dog in training is a humbling experience because no matter how professional the cop, the new dog–handler relationship takes a while to get right.
As long as you’re a dog handler, the only guarantee is that the learning will never stop.
BRAD’S TRAINING TIPS
Use lots of praise and reinforcement.
Never reward a half-effort – wait till your dog does exactly what it is told.
Find what floats your dog’s boat – is it a food treat or a ball game? Use that as the ultimate reward.
Mix up the rewards. Don’t always give food in case the dog then refuses to do anything unless you have food.
The average length of service for handlers in the Dog Squad is seventeen years, which says volumes about how much they love their job. Photo courtesy of Christopher Chan
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
When a writer sets out to collect stories, it is the men and women who take the time to share a little piece of themselves that make all the difference. My most sincere gratitude goes to all of the police officers, fearless and brave, who spoke to me of dogs and crooks, and made their stories come alive. Thanks to the following serving members of the Victoria Police Dog Squad: Mark Boysen, Trevor Berryman, Matt Steele, Harry Boniwell, Michelle Dench, Bob Carter, Andrew Adams, Gary ‘Claude’ Silinzieds, Peter ‘Willo’ Wilson, Mick Collins, Brad Mascoll and John Share. I am also very grateful for the assistance of the head of the Dog Squad, Senior Sergeant Shaun McGovern, who welcomed me into the squad, and took the time to read my manuscript and suggest changes to make it better.
My gratitude also goes to the retired members who still hold the Dog Squad and memories of their canine colleagues near and dear to their hearts: Len Taylor, Gary Morrell, Trevor Studham and Mick Bream.
To my proofreaders, Vanessa Burke and Helen Burke: your sharp pens and your instant feedback were very helpful. I also appreciated that you laughed at the funny bits.
And lastly, thank you to Andrea McNamara at Penguin for believing that everyone wants to read about hero dogs.
MICHAEL JOSEPH
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Penguin Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies
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First published by Penguin Group (Australia), 2015
Text copyright © Vikki Petraitis 2015
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.<
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Cover design by Grace West © Penguin Group (Australia)
Text design by Samantha Jayaweera © Penguin Group (Australia)
Front cover photograph by Tim Carrafa © Newspix
Back cover photograph by Craig Borrow © Newspix
penguin.com.au
ISBN: 978-1-74348-519-4
THE BEGINNING
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The Dog Squad Page 22