TRAINED to sniff out the earliest signs of trouble, Cumbria Police’s fluffiest and youngest recruits are set to join the constabulary’s head quarters this week.

Three German Shepherd puppies from the Isle of Man arrive on Tuesday and will be based at Penrith’s Carleton Hall dog unit.

The eight-week-old canine cuties replace three older police dogs which are all due to retire.

PC Steve Jones, PC Simon Hodgkinson and PC Jonathan Chappell will be given one of the new puppies and start their training straight away.

Sergeant Mark Yielder, from the Dog Unit at Cumbria Constabulary, said: “The next six months is all about familiarising the dogs with as many new people, places and experiences as possible, so that they are able to deal with any situation they’re faced with when they start work.

“We spend a lot more time playing with the dogs than you would a family pet, and rather than fluffy animals and balls, these dogs have sets of keys and tools as toys, so that they get used to the kinds of materials and objects they will be expected to search for at crime scenes in the future.

“They are also exposed to loud noises by playing recordings of thunder, lightening and firework noises on a stereo so that they get used to the unexpected, and grow into bold working dogs.”

The pups, two female and one male, were donated from the dog breeding programme at the Isle Of Man Constabulary and join the existing 12 General Purpose police dogs, 12 drugs dogs and explosives dogs currently assisting the fight against crime in Cumbria.

Details of a competition to guess the name of one of the puppies will be added to Cumbria Police’s Facebook page and the new Dogs Unit Twitter site.

The prize will be a visit to the Dog Unit at Cumbria Constabulary where they will meet the puppies and the police officers who work there.