IT was a proud day for Kaiser’s former owners after watching the German shepherd put through its paces to become a police dog.

Linda Duff and her husband could no longer look after Kaiser as a change in jobs resulted in longer working hours.

They made the hard decision to give him a new life with Cheshire Police’s dog unit in Winsford.

Linda said: “I had a mixture of emotions as I watched Kaiser in his passing-out ceremony, and I was very proud watching him in action.

“I feel I made the right choice in donating him to the police.”

After a rigorous 11 weeks of training, Kaiser will help with a range of operations including tracking, searching for evidence and public order.

PC John Reid is in the care of Kaiser, who has 20 years of experience as a police dog handler.

He said: “He was a pleasure to train, a challenge at times as he didn’t take to training exercises quickly, but made real progress in the past few weeks.

“He will make an excellent police dog, and the fact that he is donated goes to show the value that dogs – who are unwanted or whose owners are struggling to keep for whatever reason – can bring to the police force.

“Therefore, we are appealing to the public that if they know of any dogs or bitches, preferably of German Shepherd or Mallinois breed, to consider donating them to Cheshire Police.”

For information about donating a dog to Cheshire Police, call Mike Jones on 01606 362681.