TOTTORI — Two toy poodles have been tied up doing promotional events
instead of crime-fighting duties since they became police dogs in Tottori
Prefecture in January.
The female poodles —
Karin, who turns 2 on Sunday, and Fuga, also 2, — passed the police canine exam in November and have been
making TV appearances ever since.
They debuted in mid-January at a Tottori
Prefectural Police event to publicize
110, the emergency telephone number, and took part in an event in February at
a junior high school in the town of Chizu to explain the work of dog trainers.
At the Chizu event,
Karin trained with other police dogs as trainer Makoto Miyamoto told students
what his job is like.
Karin walked beside
Miyamoto and obeying his command, "Wait."
A Labrador retriever
also demonstrated its sniffing skills at the event.
Miyamoto said it
takes three to four years for a police dog to master scent tracking. "It's best for them to get on-site work
experience" to master the skills, he said.
Poodles, which are
used as hunting dogs, carry out orders and learn quickly, according to the
Japan Kennel Club.
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VOCABULARY
1.
Poodles
(n) – breed of dogs
2.
Tied
up (phrasal verb) - to be very busy, so that you cannot do anything else
3.
Canine
(v) - a dog (formal)
4.
Debuted
(v) - to appear in public or become available for the first time
5.
Publicize
(v) - to give information about something to the public, so that they know
about it:
6.
Demonstrated
(v) - to show that you have a particular ability, quality, or feeling:
7.
Sniffing
(v) - to breathe air in through your nose in order to smell something:
8.
Scent
(n) - the smell of a particular animal or person that some other animals, for
example dogs, can follow
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1.
Have you ever seen a police dog?
2.
What can you say about the promotional events of
these 2 poodles?
3.
Do you think dogs are helpful to the police?
Why? Why not?
4.
What other animals could be helpful to the
police? How?
5.
Name some movies that you have watched with dogs
as the main character.
