Although the dogs' sense of smell is paramount, the core skill behind all police dog work is agility and obedience.

Beside the dog kennels at Ripley police headquarters lies an obstacle course not too far removed from that witnessed on Crufts.

Dog trainer PC Dave Heaps explained: "Obedience is key to all the work we do, it's no use having a dog who is fantastic at tracking people if it can't behave and follow simple orders. Whereas agility is key to the dog being able to do their job successfully. It needs to be able to jump fences and over obstacles."

Faced with a six-foot fence, German Shepherd Ice and handler PC Dean Allen were first on the training circuit. To say the task was a 'stroll in the park' for Ice is an understatement.

Dave added: "We teach the dogs to scale six-foot panels because that is the most common fence panel size, but the dogs are easily capable of scaling higher if need be."

Next on the obstacle circuit is a three-foot high hurdle which the dogs jump over rather than scale, yet again Ice carries out the task with the ability of an award-winning show jumper. This task is followed by a series of small hurdles which the dog must clear in one jump as if they were diving over a stream.

Dave said: "We start agility training from week one so the dogs get to practice their skills every day and are capable of clearing any obstacles or challenges they may face in the course of their duties."

After clearing the obstacle course with ease it was time to put the dogs through a test of obedience.

Dean Allen: "The dog has to be alert and ready at all times, it may not like all of the commands we tell it to do but it has to learn to follow orders."

Having an obedient dog is vital for when the police are on duty at football matches.

Dave said: "The very presence of a dog often stops people fighting, officers on the ground fondly refer to them as land sharks, as they are able to separate rival groups just by walking through."

As Dean and Ice march around the field, trainer Dave acts as drill master yelling instructions. It was clear from the drill that Ice was uncomfortable with some of the tasks, especially when he was made to sit quietly and wait.

After ten seconds of silence Ice soon kicked into a bark in frustration.

Dave explained: "The dog doesn't like to be sat doing nothing so you find he will sit there and bark. The more we practise the task the better they get. Just a few weeks ago when we started the course Ice would have probably just run off. We're teaching him to be obedient but he is such a head strong dog, Dean has done a fantastic job with him so far."