The noses know where to find drugs
"Aaaaaaaaaaaay! Good boy!"
From nowhere, Const. Kiera Redden pulls a tightly coiled handtowel from her pocket and flings it across the room.
In a flash of white and a flurry of paws, trainee drug dog Titan scoops up the coveted toy and has it back at his handler's feet, eagerly awaiting the next toss.
These few seconds of "play" are just reward for Titan's cocaine find at a vacant South Perth property.
Though this time the drugs were hidden by police, Titan will soon search homes, cars and factories for drugs stashed by far less savoury characters.
The two-year-old white labrador with a crooked nose is one of three new WA Police narcotic detection dogs set to join the canine squad this year.
They will be the first passive alert retrievers to search properties in WA and one, Jake, will be the first drug dog stationed outside Perth when he goes to Kalgoorlie next month.
Titan will be Const. Redden's second police dog and it seems he has big paw prints to fill.
Last year, the 32-year-old officer's other dog Storm found 2.5kg of amphetamines buried in a northern suburbs backyard - a dog squad record.
But firsts are nothing new for Const. Redden, who until recently was the only woman to pass the canine squad's general purpose handler physical.
The test includes a beep test, sit-ups, a dead lift of 55kg, a shoulder press and an obstacle course where officers must lift a 32kg bag of sand (simulating the weight of their dog) over a 1.82m wall four times.
Alex Massey
