Six pups reporting for duty! Up-and-coming police dogs to start their training
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Adorable images show six German Shepherd puppies being welcomed into a police force's dog unit.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) took in the female dogs when they were just eight weeks old - and all of them share a connection with one of the force's veteran crimefighters.
Jax, a German Shepherd who served with GMP for eight years before retiring last year, birthed the six dogs 13 weeks ago.
The puppies have now each been paired with their own handler, but will not begin a 13-week course to become operational dogs for more than a year.
In the meantime, Stormy, Sylvie, Gracie, Rosie, Skye and Jet will spend their days bonding with their handlers, learning new skills and shadowing their more experienced four-legged colleagues.
Once the training is complete, the six pups will follow in the footsteps of Jax's two other children, PD Harley and PD Hully, who are already serving for GMP.
GMP's German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois have helped officers pull off some 536 arrests in the last year alone.
Inspector Mike Weeden of GMP said: 'We are absolutely delighted to welcome six new puppies to the GMP Tactical Dog Unit family.
Greater Manchester Police has welcome six new German Shepherds into its ranks. One of the dogs, named Stormy, is pictured
Gracie (pictured) is one of the six dogs to have been paired up with a handler
The puppies were all born just 13 weeks ago. Rosie is pictured
The German Shepherds will not be able to undergo rigorous training for more than a year. Skye is pictured
In the mean time, they will get to know their handlers and shadow older four-legged crimestoppers. Jet is pictured
Jax, a German Shepherd who served with GMP for eight years before retiring last year, birthed the six dogs 13 weeks ago
'These young dogs represent the future of our unit and will begin an exciting journey towards becoming operational police dogs, helping us to prevent and detect crime across Greater Manchester.
'What makes this arrival even more special is that they come from our own retired Police Dog Jax, and it is fantastic to know that we are continuing to develop and preserve such strong and proven bloodlines within our unit.
'The TDU is an exciting and highly effective part of policing. With the right dogs and the right handlers working together, we have an incredible team of proactive officers dedicated to protecting our communities, locating offenders, safeguarding vulnerable people, and supporting frontline policing every day.
'We look forward to watching these puppies develop over the coming months and years and seeing them become the next generation of police dogs serving the people of Greater Manchester.'
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