The results are in and the winners of the 2023 Canadian Police Canine Association (CPCA) National Police Dog Competition, hosted by the Barrie Police Service and Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), have been announced.
The competition events were held at Sadlon Arena in south-end Barrie on Saturday, Sept. 9.
Barrie police Const. Paul Chubb and his canine partner, Routs, won the fastest-dog event with a first-place tie. Routs clocked in at 46 kilometres per hour.
Chubb and his dog also nabbed fifth place in the criminal apprehension event.
Barrie police Const. Matt Abofs and his dog, Serge, finished fifth in the evidence search event.
The 45th annual event brought together the country's canine teams to showcase their skills, expertise and dedication to public safety.
“The CPCA is proud to support and bring together police canine teams from across the country to train and compete with one another,” OPP Sgt. Brad Gillespie, who's also president of the CPCA, said in a news release.
“More importantly, this event gives us the opportunity to showcase to our communities the canine capabilities that exist in policing,” he added.
The event featured police canine teams from across Canada showing off their skills in various competitions including fastest dog, agility and obedience. Nearly 40 canine teams competed in the five-day gathering.
They engaged in competitions and scenarios that mimicked real-life police situations. The first four days remained closed to the public, fostering opportunities for the participating handlers to share knowledge and enhance their own training programs.
The public was invited to watch the competitions on the fifth day, learning how and why police dog teams are utilized within police forces across the country.
This is the first year the competition has been held in Ontario, with events spread across Oro-Medonte and the Barrie areas, including the Iron Dog event at Hardwood Hills.
“The Iron Dog featured a rugged 3.5-kilometre forest run with seven unique testing stations for both the handler and dog. It concluded with exhausted yet grateful canine teams dashing to the finish line,” said the release.
