Police Dog Arnie
Handled by PC 2708 Colin White
Arnie was a German Shepherd who was donated to Hampshire Constabulary when he was 18 months old due to his owners realising he needed to be kept busy or he became very destructive.
He was a very keen working dog and naturally took to police work, with a very strong reward drive. His nemesis was his love of the protective sleeve used in bite training and once he was on, it was near impossible to get him to leave it – fortunately, operationally, he followed his training and released on command!
Arnie was also trained to work with the Tactical Firearms Team and deployed to numerous firearms operations during his service to support them.
Arnie was very successful in locating suspects and was awarded Police Dog Action of the Year in 1999, following the successful track of a car thief over several miles, and having to cross a river twice until the male was located.
He also saved a missing security guard, who had fallen whilst on duty and rolled into a ditch, the male was located with leg injuries and suffering from extreme cold but made a good recovery in hospital and later met Arnie to say thank you.
Arnie also “starred” in an ITV series called “Dog Squad” in 1998. The dog section was filmed over several months and the actions of the dogs drew large audiences on Sunday evenings.
On his retirement, Arnie went to live with friends of his handler, a family who he loved dearly and he would return to his handler for holidays which gave them just enough time to reminisce about the “good old days”.
