Minister for Police and Minister for Corrective Services, the Honourable Mark Ryan MP, yesterday introduced the public to the Queensland Police Service’s newest recruits, the R Litter of German Shepherd puppies.

The R Litter consists of nine puppies, two females – Rhode and Rhaja – and seven males – Raptor, RJ, Ruckus, Riddler, Raider, Rumble and Reggie.

The puppies, who were born on March 16, are destined to become general purpose dogs with the QPS, once they complete their operational training.

For now though, the pups will spend the next 12 to 18 months with their foster carers, learning vital socialisation skills.

Minister Ryan said the Dog Squad was one of the most active and essential frontline services of the Queensland Police Service.

“Each year, our general purpose dogs are responsible for the tracking and apprehension of offenders state-wide,” Minister Ryan said.

“Of equal importance, the detection dogs are responsible for keeping significant quantities of illicit drugs off Queensland streets.

“We wish the R Litter dogs all the best as they embark on their journey towards becoming general purpose police dogs for the Queensland Police Service.”

The birth of this litter signals the continued strengthening of the QPS Dog Squad capabilities as the R litter was the first in a string of litters born over the past few months.

The dog squad continues to play an integral role in the day to day activities of the QPS. In the 2018 financial year, the dog squad was called for service on 33,373 occasions of which, they were deployed for tracking 5,226 times and located 1,599 people.

If the R Litter successfully passes training and does become general purpose dogs, they will join the 103 strong state dog squad which consists of German Shepherds, Labradors, and three Springer Spaniels.

The dogs are distributed across the state including 48 within the greater Brisbane region including Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan and the Gold Coast. The rest of the dog squad is scattered around major population centres throughout Queensland.