By Emma Reynolds


This adorable litter of German Shepherd puppies are pictured playing together as if they haven't a care in the world.

But the four-week-old family are already being trained for their future as elite crime-fighters for West Midlands Police.

The cute and fluffy dogs are groomed to be 'obsessed with toys' to assist their training for this very serious job.

Canine crime-fighters: The brothers and sisters cuddle up on some helmets at the West Midlands Police dog unit

The seven brothers and sisters will be placed with volunteers in just two weeks to help them become socialised and accustomed to different environments.

They will then go through several assessments to see if they are suitable, before being paired up with an officer to start training in earnest at just 15 months old.

Dave Raymond, breed scheme manager for West Midlands Police, said: 'German Shepherds are all round good dogs, they're naturally guarding dogs so they can be a little vocal with their barking.

'The big challenge is getting them obsessed with toys, as that's how we do a lot of the training - although it can get a bit annoying for the volunteers because they tend to go for any small objects like shoes which are left lying around the house.'

These four male and three females were born at the force's dog unit to two working police dogs - Cassie and Bach.

Puppy power: The fluffy dogs play happily, unaware that they will one day help protect Britain's streets

Pooch patrol: The centre where the litter are training for life as fearless attack dogs

PC Raymond predicts that the puppies will make perfect police dogs.

'The dad is very strong and the mum is very strong - they've got a great genetic line,' he said.

If any do not reach the necessary level, they will go to a loving home.

'We've got a big waiting list of people wanting police dogs as pets,' said PC Raymond.

'A lot of people think "police dog, so it would make a good guard dog", but we don't want that.

'We want them to go to a loving home where they'll be looked after.'

These pooches still have not been named, but have been labelled the 'R' litter, which will be the first letter of each dog's name.

The force is running a competition for members of the public to choose names for the puppies, who are the first litter to be born under the Kennel Club's Assured Breeder Scheme.

West Midlands Police dog unit manager, Inspector Russ Evans, said: 'The dogs we train are key members of our team so we want to ensure we do the best by them from the very start.


On guard: The sweet puppies will one day deal with terrifying situations such as the ones faced by brave dogs during August's riots - as seen here in Birmingham

'We're proud to follow very high standards for breeding our dogs, so joining the Kennel Club Assured Breeder Scheme was the next logical step for us, as this is the quality kite mark that all good breeders aspire to hold.'

Bill Lambert, Kennel Club Assured Breeder Scheme manager, added: 'We are delighted to have the dog breeding unit at West Midlands Police as part of our Assured Breeder Scheme.

'The care provided for their dogs is excellent and the breeding premises, which we inspected prior to accepting them on to the scheme, were impeccable.'

West Midlands Police joins Merseyside Police and Greater Manchester Police as members of the Kennel Club Assured Breeder Scheme.

Anyone with ideas for naming for the puppies will soon be able to submit suggestions to the Kennel Club at: http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk.


source:dailymail