This afternoon Michael Coutts came into school to talk to us about Dogs Against Drugs. They are here to help our community and keep us safe.

There are 2 dog handlers in Shetland and they have 4 drugs dogs between them. They have 2 working dogs (Blade and Thor) and 2 training dogs – Axel and Odin who is still just 8 months old. They start training the dogs when they are 1 year old. Michael had a dog work as old as 9 and a half years old. They use Labradors or Springer spaniels as their noses are bread to be better. Did you know that dogs have 30x better smell than humans?

They take the dogs to the airports and the ferry terminal – anywhere where people can come into Shetland. As well as searching buses, cars, trucks, houses, etc. The dogs aren’t just used to find drugs but are used as a deterrent.

We saw a clip of Thor working and how he shows his handlers that he has found something – they stand and wag their tails.

The dogs and their handlers have to go south every year for assessments.

Michael showed us his uniform and let us try it on. He showed us his baton and let us all hold it.  He also showed us his handcuffs and let us try them on too but they were too big and our hands were able to come out as they are designed for adults. So he had Louise try them on!

Michael had taken his dog Thor up with him so we all went outside to see him. We stood in a big circle and Michael took him round for us to pet him. He was lovely and very excited to see us. Michael then took out a ball for Thor to play with as they use this as a reward. So because he was good and let us all pet him he got to play with the ball for a bit. Michael had him sit and wait before throwing the ball up into the air. Thor then caught the ball in his mouth!

Michael very kindly gave us key rings at the end that had their website on it. Here is a link to the Dogs against drugs website if you want to have a look at the dogs in Shetland: http://www.dogsagainstdrugs.co.uk/the-dogs