The Sunshine Coast Dog Squad has welcomed two new police dogs, including a one-year-old that has joined his father on the beat.
The unit now includes Police Dog Jackal, 15 months, and PD Odin, 3.
The former has teamed up with the Acting Officer in Charge of the Sunshine Coast Dog Squad, Acting Sergeant Trent Reynolds, while the latter has linked with Senior Constable Daniel Hayward.
PD Jackal joins his father PD Astro in the squad.
Acting Sergeant Reynolds said PD Jackal’s first operational shift was on July 29, and it’s not the first time a father and son have served with the squad.
“My previous work dog PD Darth was actually the son of the work dog he was replacing, PD Oakley. It’s a unique dynamic,” he said.
“PD Astro has been used in our breeding program four times and the J litter is the first to hit the road. Alongside PD Jackal on the Sunshine Coast, we also have PD Jaws in Brisbane with PD Jasper and PD Jax in Logan.”
PD Astro and fellow squad members PD Buzz and PD Denver started operations with the Sunshine Coast squad in early 2025.
In their first 12 months of action, the squad responded to 1667 calls for service, resulting in 138 arrests and 124 tracking deployments.
The video below shows local police dogs in action, including PD Buzz at Palmwoods, PD Odin at Mountain Creek, PD Astro at Beerburrum and PD Jackal at Forest Glen and Baringa.
Each handler dedicates some time each shift to ongoing training of their dogs in tracking, obedience and criminal work, when not required for operational support.
“Much like a police recruit, our police dogs will learn most through exposure to real life policing,” Acting Sergeant Reynolds said.
“In particular for our younger novice dogs that have just entered the operational space like PD Jackal, they will undertake daily training for a number of years until the dog reaches that optimal age of four to seven-years-old when they are at the peak of their working lives.”
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PD Jackal and PD Astro also feature in the 2027 QPS Dog Squad Calendar, which launched on August 4.
Funds from the sales of the calendars go towards multiple charities, including Sunshine Coast-based not-for-profit SalTy Souls which provides surf therapy programs for vulnerable youth.
