Surrey Police dog training school

Dog school’s history

This picture, taken in 1949m shows Sergeant Harry Darbyshire – the founder of Surrey Police’s Dog School – with Peter, the first Doberman at the dog unit.

Dogs have assisted with different forms of policing across the world since the early fifteenth century.

Airedales and bloodhounds have traditionally been famed for tracking down criminals.

For Surrey Police, the earliest record of the Constabulary using police dogs was during the First World War, when three bloodhounds were trained to track down escapees from a Prisoner of War camp in Frimley.

Bloodhounds introduced

Their use was discontinued when the war ended.

However, in 1933, five bloodhounds were introduced to assist with scenes of crime, missing persons and stolen property across Surrey, Hampshire and Buckinghamshire.

This practice stopped again when the Second World War began.

When the conflict ended, Chief Constable Joseph Simpson was interested in having dogs involved in police work.

New plans for force

He was aware of a well-known dog trainer from the Met Police called DC Harry Darbyshire, who worked with German shepherd ‘Anna of Avondale’ – a captured German war dog that had a strong track record at working dog trials.

DC Darbyshire was offered a transfer to Surrey Constabulary to set up a dog unit in late 1947, and in February 1948, they attended their first incident.

Early positive results at the dog unit led to expansion with new officers and dogs.

And in 1949, Peter the Doberman, pictured above, was given to Surrey Constabulary from a member of the public that couldn’t control him any longer. He was trained and became a very successful police dog.

Breeding programme

Chief Constable Joseph Simpson took a personal interest in the dog section and encouraged handlers to enter civilian working dog trials.

Between 1949 and 1968, the Surrey Police Dog Section won more than 35 Working Trials Challenge Certificates, with 15 of their dogs sharing the awards.

This was all down to Sgt Darbyshire and his successful breeding programme of champion German Shepherds and Dobermans.

The success of the training and breeding programmes saw Police Chiefs show interest from across Great Britain and so a training school was opened at Mount Browne Headquarters in Guildford.

Internationally recognised

Official kennels were built on site and the school opened in September 1950. By 1967, it was ranked the fifth best Regional Police Dog Training School.

Surrey Constabulary Dog School had a fantastic reputation, which continues to this day.

Then, as now, police dog handlers and their canines from other Constabularies would train in Surrey and then return to their respective forces.

On the international stage, Surrey Police’s Dog school was instrumental in setting up dog units in several other countries, including Kenya (1949), New Zealand (1956) and Barbados (1980).

Legacy

To this day, Surrey Police’s dog school has a paw-some reputation, providing training to many forces across the country.

Training is also provided to other agencies such as customs, prison services and private security companies, both here and abroad.

The majority of the school’s current customers come from Hong Kong, Singapore, the Middle East, and the Southern Hemisphere.

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