Kosmo takes some time out at the Christchurch Patrol Base while recovering from his injuries.

A police dog who received a life-saving blood transfusion after being wounded in the line of duty will be home for the first time on Saturday night - and it could be sausages on the menu.

Four-year-old Kosmo received a 4-centimetre cut to the throat, narrowly missing his carotid artery, while responding to what police described as a family harm incident in Kaiapoi about 6.30pm on Thursday.

He was flown by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter to Christchurch and then taken by ambulance to a 24-hour veterinarian, where he received the transfusion from his colleague, New Zealand's top police dog, Oza.

ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF Kosmo fronts the press after being stabbed in the line of duty on Thursday night.

Kosmo seemed in fine spirits on Saturday, despite the medication, fronting for a press conference sporting a blue bandage around his neck alongside handler Constable Regan Turner.

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"He's a bit sorry for himself, he's not usually like this - he's usually very boisterous and licky," Turner said.

ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF Kosmo takes some time out at the Christchurch Patrol Base on Saturday.

​"He's had a lot of sympathy and a lot of pats and cuddles from the vet nurses. They were a bit sad to see him go this morning."

Turner said he knew something "sinister" had happened to Kosmo after he lost track of the dog while attending Thursday's job. It was dark, and he thought he would have run past the spot Kosmo was "tucked up" several times before he was found, lying in a pool of blood and panting with shock.

"I didn't see the wound first. I saw the blood. That sort of hit me really hard," Turner said, his voice at times strained with emotion.

ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF Kosmo's handler Constable Regan Turner said the four-year-old German shepherd was feeling a bit sorry for himself.

The dog handler dropped to the ground and, wanting to apply pressure to the wound, "jammed" his thumb in the hole in Kosmo's neck. "I thought he was going to die," Turner said. The wait for the helicopter felt like a long time, but if it wasn't for the "boys in the big bird" Kosmo would not have made it.

The helicopter landed in Hagley Park, before Kosmo was whisked away by a waiting ambulance to a 24/7 veterinarian. By this point, Turner's colleague, Constable Craig Moore, had already been called. He was ready and waiting with his own dog, Oza.

Moore said about 550 millimetres of Oza's blood was needed for the transfusion. "He just doesn't have a lot of fuel left in the tank at the moment," Moore said.

ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF New Zealand's top police dog, Oza, gave up half his blood to save his colleague's life.

"He's a good dog, and I'm definitely proud of him. He didn't have much of a choice, but he didn't mind at all."

Turner said a date had yet to be decided for when Kosmo would return to the beat, but said it would be at least a couple of weeks.

"I think he's going to milk it maybe. . . He'll have a bit of time in front of the fire for the next few days and keep warm."

"Once he starts annoying me again and licking my face and trying to jump all over me, that's probably when he goes back to being a police dog."

Kosmo, who has a brother on the force in New Plymouth, has lived with Turner and his family for the past three years, and has been an operational police dog for the past two.

"There's nothing better than you and him working together as one and catching someone or getting a result for someone," Turner said.

"It's pretty cool when the stars align. We can't talk to each other, he doesn't speak English unfortunately, but we somehow manage to link it all up and get an end result."

Turner had received messages of support from officers around the country and said he was overwhelmed by the public attention - Kosmo, not so much.

The four-year-old German shepherd was heading home for the first time on Saturday night, and Turner might be cranking up the barbeque for a welcome home treat.

"He's partial to a wee sausage off the barbeque at summer time, but my barbeque isn't very clean at the moment, so I might have to clean it up for him a bit."

Joshua Luke Cooper, 29, appeared in the Christchurch District Court on Friday charged with intentionally wounding Kosmo.

Judge Gary MacAskill remanded Cooper, of Hornby, in custody to appear again on June 18.

Cooper entered no plea to the charge of intentionally wounding a police dog without lawful authority or reasonable excuse.