Fine pedigree: Lyal and Luther team up to detect narcotics

There were a couple of familiar faces from Canterbury - both human and canine - at a recent police drug detector dog graduation.

Veteran dog handler Senior Constable Lyal Bayliss and his black labrador Luther graduated from the Trentham police dog training centre, ready for service back in Canterbury.

Luther is Bayliss' fifth operational police dog but his first narcotics detector dog after 18 years working with patrol dogs.  

• Determination to graduate

In 2009, Bayliss received a bronze merit award after he and his previous dog Duke caught an offender armed with a knife.

Then, in 2021, he got a gold merit award after arresting another armed offender, this time with his patrol dog Brock.

Luther also has a fine pedigree. He was the last dog handled by decorated Canterbury Senior Constable Bruce Lamb before he died in May while on a hunting trip in the Ashburton Lakes area.

Lamb joined the police in 1978 and spent 35 years in the dog section. He and Luther went on to find a $168,000 drug haul in the lining of a car door.

One of Lamb's other dogs, Gage, tragically lost his life when he was shot protecting his handler in what should have been a routine drug search in Phillipstown, Christchurch, in 2010. 

Lamb was shot in the face during the raid. But Gage - protecting his handler like he was trained to do - leapt to the rescue and took a bullet for him, allowing Lamb to escape with his life.

Bayliss had some advice for any would-be dog handlers - you need patience and perseverance. 

“It takes time. It would pay to foster dogs, it will allow you to be with dogs, learn some things, understand the difference between a pet and a working dog.”

National co-ordinator police dogs, Inspector Todd Southall, said the tasks the trainees faced under the scrutiny of the trainers were "not always easy".

“Weeks away from home and hard training are put aside when the handlers receive their graduation certificates.”