Over the next ten weeks, two German Shepherds, 12-month-old Ice and 18-month-old Blade, will be pushed to the limit all over the county as they train to be the force's newest recruits".

The Belper News went to meet the dogs and handlers at their Ripley kennels as they took a break from training. Every couple of weeks we plan to update you on how Ice and Blade are doing as we follow their trials and tribulations through training.

The man responsible for training the animals is PC Dave Heaps, he explains the course is no push-over for dog nor handler.

"These dogs have done well to get this far," said Dave. "I looked at 23 dogs before I found these two that were suitable. When selecting dogs I look for animals with a strong retrieve drive, they must want to fetch things. They have also got to be able to search with their noses as well as their eyes and they must pass a basic test of courage. Police dogs have to be incredibly brave, it's no use having a whimp of a dog when dealing with a football crowd."

All police dogs train and live with their own handler to ensure that dog and human create a good working bond.

Experienced dog handler PC Paul Seymour will be living and working with rough-coated Blade, who was donated from a home in Sheffield. Paul said: "This is the fourth German Shepherd I have had and Blade has been living with me for the past three weeks. If the dog passes the test it will be with me until the end of its life, but not all dogs make the grade. If Blade fails, he will be rehomed and I will get another dog."

Meanwhile, Ice, who was donated from a family in Riddings, will be living and working with PC Dean Allen.

Working with dogs has always been Dean's ambition and after three-and-a-half years pounding the streets of Derby, Dean is thrilled to have joined the dog squad, adding: "I enjoy the fact that you have got an animal that has been trained up for a specific reason, they are far more loyal than a human and they do not have sick days, they are always up for work."

So far Ice has settled in well at Dean's home, but he is yet to meet Dean's other dog, a Beagle. "He is coping well so far but at the moment we are keeping Ice and the Beagle apart, but we hope to take them on a joint walk together soon," added Dean.

Over the next ten weeks, Blade and Ice will be training all over the county, trainer Dave Heaps added: "We go all over the county with the dogs, we use parts of Buxton, Drum Hill at Little Eaton, and a couple of buildings in Derby. We rely on people volunteering their premises for us to use, in the past we have used schools, factories and old aged people homes for different parts of the training."

When we met the dogs just three days into their first week, all was going well, but Dave explains they have a long way to go: "We will be starting off with obedience training, we teach agility and how to jump over obstacles before training them to track and follow human scent.