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Canine Crimebusters: The Story of Taz, Zippy and the UK's Amazing Police Dogs
Canine Crimebusters delves into the history and heroism of UK police dogs, exploring their evolution, highlighting amazing canines, and celebrating their bond with handlers.
This book follows the heroic and touching tales of dogs on the frontline of crime prevention.
The first truly recognised police dog section in the UK was out of the Met, based at Imber Court, Esher, and the star dog was PD Rex, handled by PC Arthur Holman. Rex was responsible for 120 arrests, the first drug sniffer dog in the UK, the first to work for the Flying Squad, and won numerous awards before his death from cancer at just seven. He also had a book by Holman about him, and a film made of his career (Police Dog, 1955).
His success led to the establishment of the dog section at Keston which is still in operation. He is the star and the root of the story, but from there readers will be taken through the awe-inspiring tales of a series of individual dogs, and their police handlers, right up to today.
The book also reveals how they are trained and have been used over the decades, and also highlight the heroic dogs that have foiled terrorists, found killers, and won valour awards in Rex’s pawprints.
Through thrilling and heartwarming stories, readers will see how these dogs have thwarted terrorists, caught killers, and protected the public, with an appendix guiding readers to the K9 memorial site and relevant organisations for further engagement.
This book follows the heroic and touching tales of dogs on the frontline of crime prevention.
The first truly recognised police dog section in the UK was out of the Met, based at Imber Court, Esher, and the star dog was PD Rex, handled by PC Arthur Holman. Rex was responsible for 120 arrests, the first drug sniffer dog in the UK, the first to work for the Flying Squad, and won numerous awards before his death from cancer at just seven. He also had a book by Holman about him, and a film made of his career (Police Dog, 1955).
His success led to the establishment of the dog section at Keston which is still in operation. He is the star and the root of the story, but from there readers will be taken through the awe-inspiring tales of a series of individual dogs, and their police handlers, right up to today.
The book also reveals how they are trained and have been used over the decades, and also highlight the heroic dogs that have foiled terrorists, found killers, and won valour awards in Rex’s pawprints.
Through thrilling and heartwarming stories, readers will see how these dogs have thwarted terrorists, caught killers, and protected the public, with an appendix guiding readers to the K9 memorial site and relevant organisations for further engagement.
251 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 31, 2025
2 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 2, 2025
Interesting read.
I was really interested to read this, noticing the types of dog on the book cover, as my mum's cousin and wife used to breed Lakeland, Welsh, Wire-haired Fox Terriers, and Airedale Terriers, and my sister had an Airedale. Also, their son-in-law was a police dog handler.
This was a concise history of police dogs; dogs used in fighting and solving crime.
It starts with dogs policing the docks. I thought it would be more interesting for me when we got to more modern times; forensic stuff, cadaver dogs, etc.
News reports and photos of the time are mentioned, although there are no photos in the book.
40% of the way through, and still we were quite a way back in the history of police dogs. I would have preferred a bit of history, and then more present day info on how dog units operate; how they find human remains, and their part in some well-known cases. This book didn't quite live up to my expectations, and didn't hold my attention as it should, but was an interesting read nevertheless. I think it could have been more in-depth; wasn't quite what I was expecting.
There was a section which was much more like it for me. I enjoyed Airedale Jim's delightful and heartwarming tale.
There wasn't much new info I didn't already know about, apart from one which did surprise me; items that dogs can sniff out, and that is useful in these digital days.
The final 3rd of the book is more interesting to me; more the kind of thing I wanted to read about.
I was really interested to read this, noticing the types of dog on the book cover, as my mum's cousin and wife used to breed Lakeland, Welsh, Wire-haired Fox Terriers, and Airedale Terriers, and my sister had an Airedale. Also, their son-in-law was a police dog handler.
This was a concise history of police dogs; dogs used in fighting and solving crime.
It starts with dogs policing the docks. I thought it would be more interesting for me when we got to more modern times; forensic stuff, cadaver dogs, etc.
News reports and photos of the time are mentioned, although there are no photos in the book.
40% of the way through, and still we were quite a way back in the history of police dogs. I would have preferred a bit of history, and then more present day info on how dog units operate; how they find human remains, and their part in some well-known cases. This book didn't quite live up to my expectations, and didn't hold my attention as it should, but was an interesting read nevertheless. I think it could have been more in-depth; wasn't quite what I was expecting.
There was a section which was much more like it for me. I enjoyed Airedale Jim's delightful and heartwarming tale.
There wasn't much new info I didn't already know about, apart from one which did surprise me; items that dogs can sniff out, and that is useful in these digital days.
The final 3rd of the book is more interesting to me; more the kind of thing I wanted to read about.
September 7, 2025
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me a digital version of this book.
Canine Crimebusters really goes into the history of working police dogs and I really enjoyed learning about how they train them, and what they are able to search for. I've always been amazed at how clever dogs are and wondered about the behind the scenes and how they become trained in certain areas of the police. It really did focus on the history though and I would have liked a little more of the individual stories, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading this.
Canine Crimebusters really goes into the history of working police dogs and I really enjoyed learning about how they train them, and what they are able to search for. I've always been amazed at how clever dogs are and wondered about the behind the scenes and how they become trained in certain areas of the police. It really did focus on the history though and I would have liked a little more of the individual stories, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading this.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews