For many years, specially trained dogs have provided a vital weapon in the police's arsenal when it comes to fighting crime and crowd control. But just what goes into developing the animals in order to ensure they do as instructed and play such a key role? Reporter Katie May Nelson headed to the Kent Police dog unit near Sittingbourne to find out...

At first glance, a dog obstacle course isn't your regular piece of police training equipment.

But it is here where PC Sam Pepper, a dog unit instructor for Kent Police, is about to deploy a German Shepherd called Keeler to demonstrate the various skills a dog needs to work in the highly pressurised environment of the force.

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She explains: "They will search for people who are hidden or missing, they'll search for property.

"If it's necessary, when a person does something really serious and then run away, if we can't catch them, we will send in the dog to detain them."

Chief Inspector Nick Sparkes adds: "The dog section is basically a force multiplier for police officers.

"They supply a diverse range of skills both for planned and spontaneous operations.

"They are a very efficient, quick resource, and they can also do the work of three or four officers, particularly in a public order situation."

Both officers are quick to explain the importance of being able to demonstrate how their training procedures work in a court of law, in cases where people might allege they were hurt by the dog.

The chief inspector adds: "We have to maintain a really high level of control and discipline so we have got lots of little exercises that can show and satisfy a trainer or supervisor that our dog is under control.

"We have to be able to say to a court, 'look through our training, it shows how consistently good we are'."

Seven-year-old Keeler is what's known as a general purpose dog.

She is also a firearms dog, which are used to apprehend suspects who are thought to have a gun.

The high stakes of this kind of job means that PC Pepper has to do more training to get Keeler to a suitable standard.

"I can't tell her with English words what I want her to do," she explains.

"But I do enough training where she knows I like her to run to doors, cars, trees - any structure where someone could be hiding.

"You might think, 'well that's really cruel, why would you let a dog do that?'.

"But believe me, we are also in harm's way, and I don't want to send my dog anywhere I don't back her up.

"I've been on the dog section for 16 years, and in that time, we have never had a dog injured through this role.

"But we have potentially stopped situations from escalating because we have found a person or we have got information."

The PC also has another a dog in her repertoire, a springer spaniel named Archie, who is a victim recovery dog.

Archie's job would include looking for bodies, as well as vital evidence such as blood and bodily fluids.

PC Pepper tells me there are only two such dogs in the county, which means her work could take her to anywhere in Kent.

"The dogs are selected through a breeding programme," explains Ch Insp Sparkes.

"Sometimes more maturer dogs that have been recommended to us from rescue homes or other agencies.

"The dogs are put through a series of trials; things that we primarily look for are high drive, the ability to play and also confidence; we need a confident dog that's going to cope with a diverse range of scenarios based on the operational work that we are going to require it to do."

We start our training with Keeler clearing some obstacles, which is important for the dog to learn how to jump through and over things without hurting themselves.

Watch: Keeler chases after PC Simon Teagle

PC Pepper then gets the help of PC Simon Teagle, who is about to undergo a 13-week dog handling course in the summer.

He straps on a protective arm band so Sam can show me how they would use the dog to detain a suspect.

PC Teagle goes running at not quite breakneck speed, and upon his colleague's instruction, Keeler chases after him and latches on to the arm band.

"We call it a hold because that's what we want the dog to do; we don't say 'bite' or 'stop'," the chief inspector explains.

"We need a confident dog that's going to cope with a diverse range of scenarios based on the work we require it to do" - Nick Sparkes

"The dog will stay holding on to the arm. It doesn't wriggle, it just holds and hangs, and its the weight that ultimately stops the offender rather than any pain from a bite.

"Then Sam will call the dog back, the dog is required to come back on command and let go.

"The dog is an extension in the use of force; it's no different from you using your hands, a baton or maybe a taser."

It was then that I got the chance to get involved.

I was asked to plant some objects sparingly on the ground, and within just a few minutes, Keeler found all of them.

Having seen the police officers in action, I asked Ch Insp Nick Sparkes how this role differs from your usual 'bobby on the beat' role.

WATCH: PC Simon Teagle pretends to attack PC Sam Pepper so Keeler can come to the rescue

"When we look at officers for selection, the first basis is that they are a good all-round police officer," he explains.

"We do usually have police officers who will wait for six years or so, because it's a very popular role and there's a high number of applicants.

"The reason that those people want to do that job is because of the reward and motivation that they get out of succeeding with the animals.

"It's not unusual for dog handlers to do this for their whole career because they love the animals, they love the work that they generate, and they are so motivated.

"It's probably one of the most difficult selection processes that we have, because not everybody has the ability to interact with animals."

Myself and dog unit instructor PC Nigel Marshall are then asked to go and hide in the woods so that Keeler can come and find us.

General purpose dogs like Keeler are tasked to 'track' people's movements using their powerful sense of smell through an area.

"Most of our work is looking after our victims by finding the criminal, that's our business," says PC Sam Pepper.

"But also the preservation of life; if someone is missing by accident - they might have dementia or something like that - we will use these things that the dog does naturally to find them."

We barricade ourselves between the branches of a tree and, after five minutes or so, and Keeler comes flying round the corner, barking to alert his handler he has been found.

He is then treated as a suspect and directed to move slowly so he can be searched and 'arrested' by PC Pepper.

It's impressive to witness.

WATCH: PC Nigel Marshall and PC Sam Pepper carry out missing person excercise with Keeler.

Ch Insp Sparkes adds: "I think the relationship is probably the strongest we have in policing and in some cases, they are very much part of the family, if not the most important thing in the family; life revolves around them, you spend every hour with them - bar when you are asleep.

"It is very clear to me that everybody in this unit loves what they do and values their animals."

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