Training, accreditation and deployment
Police Dogs — Authorised Professional Practice
Summary
This section outlines the standards and procedures for the training, accreditation, and deployment of police dogs. It highlights the necessity for all police dogs to be trained in accordance with the National Canine Training Accreditation Scheme (NCTAS) which promotes continuing professional development and standardisation of practices within the police service. Chief constables are obligated to ensure that health, safety, and welfare standards are met during the training of personnel. The section emphasizes the importance of conducting various risk assessments for training environments, equipment, and specific roles to ensure safety and compliance. All deployments of police dogs must adhere to the NPCC Police Dog Standard, ensuring that incidents, including dog bites, are properly recorded and reviewed.
Key principles
- 1Training must align with NCTAS standards.
- 2Chief constables must ensure health and safety during dog training.
- 3Risk assessments are required for training and specific roles.
- 4Training must include guidance on safety protocols.
- 5All deployments must comply with NPCC Police Dog Standard.
Defined terms
- NCTAS
- National Canine Training Accreditation Scheme
- NPCC Police Dog Standard
- National Police Chiefs' Council Standard for Police Dogs
Full guidance
This page is from APP, the official source of professional practice for policing.
All police dogs must be trained in accordance with the National Canine Training Accreditation Scheme (NCTAS).
a framework for continuing professional development * consistency and standardisation across the range of disciplines and training activities * standardised national procedures and terminology for police use of police dogs and related activities * a vehicle for sharing and promoting good practice in response to lessons learned
Access to the NCTAS is restricted to authorised members of the police service via Knowledge Hub(opens an external website in the same tab) (login required).
Chief constables have a legal obligation to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of their employees, under:
Chief constables must ensure that all employees are appropriately trained in H&S legislation. They are also responsible for ensuring that appropriate and necessary risk assessments are in place.
Risk assessments should ensure that any unacceptable risk is eliminated or mitigated. Where residual risk remains, the instructor delivering training must carry out a dynamic risk assessment to ensure that the benefit derived from the training is proportionate to the risk.
There are three risk assessments that are relevant to the delivery of police dog training. Chief constables must ensure that the relevant departments complete and maintain these risk assessments under The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. (opens an external website in the same tab)
Training risk assessment
Chief constables must create, maintain and review a training risk assessment to ensure the effective and safe delivery of police dog training. This should include guidance on:
the training venue * training equipment * trainer staffing levels * student-to-trainer ratios * injury reporting protocols * near-miss reporting protocols * accessing welfare facilities
The risk assessment applies to all training events and venues where physical delivery of police dog training is taking place by instructors and trainers.
Venue-specific risk assessments
Where forces have one or more training venues, a separate risk assessment is needed for each venue.
Role-specific risk assessments
Chief constables must ensure that the relevant H&S representatives create and maintain risk assessments for specific roles in relation to their operational duty.
All deployments of police dogs must comply with the NPCC Police Dog Standard(opens an external website in the same tab) . Chief constables should ensure that they have a robust, open and transparent recording, reporting and review process for all police dog bites.
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Read the full APP guidanceSource: College of Policing — Authorised Professional Practice · Crown copyright, licensed under Open Government Licence v3.0. Summary fetched 2026-06-27.