But as soon as the sirens started, the Dunedin police dog was all business.
His handler, Senior Constable Tim Roy, had had Gill since he was 8 weeks old and they were not only good workmates, they were family.
So Snr Const Roy was devastated at the weekend when Gill (10) was put down.
Dunedin dog section superviser Sergeant Mike Calvert said Gill had aggressive pancreatic cancer.
"He was expected to last a wee bit longer than this, but on Sunday he just got pretty sick and we had to put him to sleep.
"It’s quite tragic."
He said Gill was the ideal police dog.
"He was goofy and he was funny. He could switch on and switch off.
"He was good around people and he just knew when it was time to switch on and go to work.
"He was well known because he used to get really excited and he was quite loud when he heard the siren come on on the way to jobs because he knew what was coming next."
He said Gill was still working right up until last week.
"He just carried on working — you couldn’t tell he was sick.
"He was a normal police dog but he was also one of our main armed offenders squad dogs.
"He apprehended some of the more high-risk offenders.
"He was also a breeding dog within New Zealand Police."
Sgt Calvert said New Zealand Police had succession planning and another dog was ready to take Gill’s place.
"We’re always succession planning, just like the All Blacks — you’ve always got to have the next ones coming through.
"But Gill is a huge loss. He was just so experienced and reliable."
Snr Const Roy said Gill had been "an amazing dog, right up until the end".
"He was everything I could have asked for and more as a handler.
He was big, strong, fearless, super driven, loved to work and known for his deafening excited howl when being deployed.
"Gill was more than an outstanding police dog. His goofy personality, playfulness and loyalty were what made him extra special."
