FOUR legged police recruits turned out yesterday to treat two young competition winners to a display.
Alice Bishop, 13, and her nine-year-old brother Joe, from Durham City, joined in a class with dogs and handlers from the regional police dog training school at Harperley Hall, near Crook.
The outing was their prize in a competition run by The Northern Echo's sister papers The Advertiser Series and food company Eukanuba, which has sponsored Durham police's first cocker spaniel, Barney, since August.
Alice and Joe, together with their father Garry, spent the morning in Stanley watching dogs carrying out mock searches of a disused factory.
Instructor Steve Clark explained different methods of training dogs to follow scents and search for explosives, bombs and drugs.
The family have a one-year old pet springer spaniel called Barner.
Alice said: "We watched the dogs search an empty building and were shown the protective gloves police wear when they are training them. It was brilliant."
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