Constable Rory Duncan joins the section with his new dog Fredy, a 17-month-old sourced in Holland. Constable Marion Napier has been paired with Yana (standing for You are No Angel), a 20-month female obtained through the Central Scotland Police dog breeding programme, and Constable Graeme Hunter will be working with Portas, a 16-month- old male.

Constable Ron Anderson, the force’s dog training instructor, said, “All dog handlers, whether experienced or novice, undergo basic courses when allocated a new dog. They then have to pass tests to be licensed before becoming operational. After that, all general police dogs are required to be licensed annually.

“As the name suggests, general purpose police dogs are used in a wide variety of roles from searching for missing people to tracking criminals.”

“Many operational successes are recorded throughout the force area involving them. They have become a vital part in today’s policing role.

“I’m looking forward to working with the new handlers and their dogs.”

Alison Salmean, sergeant for the dog section at Baluniefield, said, “This is an exciting day for Tayside Police, the dog handlers and the dogs.

“These dogs have been part-trained so their training has been cut-down from the usual 12-weeks to eight weeks.

“This is going to be a great boost for the force as it’s the largest increase in dogs we’ve had — going from six to nine dogs. This will allow us to cover the area much better.

“It’s a milestone day after a long and hard process to get the handlers and dogs, and puts us in line with other police forces.”