As many of the local Jindalee community is aware, Elroy the Police puppy is living at the Centenary North Police Beat for the first year of his life as he begins his journey to become a police dog. A lot of people have asked how Elroy is going, especially with the recent heat wave we have experienced in Brisbane.

For those that don’t know Elroy is a black German Shepherd who will be fostered at the Beat as part of the Queensland Police Service’s puppy development program.

Under the program, specially bred puppies find temporary homes with police families so that they can learn the socialisation skills necessary to become part of the community. During the foster period, puppies increase their confidence by visiting schools and shopping centres where there are crowds and plenty of activity.

Staff at the Beat, along with Elroy’s foster family, will socialise him in safe and secure environments to ensure he is well equipped to become a fully-fledged police dog. Every three to four weeks, he heads back to Dog Squad HQ at Oxley to undergo preliminary training. Elroy was born in early September as part of the “E” litter (all puppies – six males and six female – have names starting with E).

Now the update. Most community members last saw Elroy before Christmas at our Neighbourhood Watch group’s ‘Paws on Patrol’ day. He has grown significantly since then and loves chewing on things especially towels, clothes on the clothes line and anything else he can get his paws on including my arm. He has been going great guns at his monthly training and is quickly learning how to track down offenders by following their scent. Elroy has also been out in the community visiting school and community groups. He has also started venturing out at night to learn how to navigate underground car parks and stairs in the dark.

Due to the recent hot weather Elroy has been spending plenty of time in the Beat office in the air conditioning or lazing about in his pool.

It is really important with this hot weather that we take the time to look after not only ourselves but also our pets to ensure they are not suffering.

The RSPCA website has a wealth of information on how to look after our pets during hot weather. Please view here.

Stay tuned for more Elroy updates – as he gets older and the weather gets cooler he will be out and about visiting some of our local schools and community groups.