Police dogs show off te reo training
A policeman and his dog Paikea stole the show with their demonstration of te reo at the annual Otago Polyfest.
Constable Regan Mauheni is training Paikea to be an operational police dog, and has also been teaching the young dog some new tricks.
The Invercargill-born dog handler, who was struck in the left temple by a .308 bullet during the Kawerau siege in 2016, taught Paikea some basic instructions in te reo to celebrate Te Wiki o Te Reo Ma¯ori/Ma¯ori Language Week.
He put the lessons to the test in front of the 500-strong Dunedin audience yesterday.
‘‘We’ll give him a crack,’’ Mauheni says before instructing the visibly excited Paikea.
Paikea was told to E tu¯ (stand up), E noho (sit down) and ko¯ rero (speak), which prompted a loud bark from the young dog.
Finally Paikea was instructed to takoto (lie down) and was told ‘‘ka pai’’ by his handler, to enthusiastic applause from the crowd.
The pair had been working together since Paikea was just 8-weeks old, and were off to Wellington at the end of the week for further training.
Mauheni told The Southland Times he and Paikea were set to
Paikea was told to E tu¯ (stand up), E noho (sit down) and ko¯rero (speak), which prompted a loud bark from the young dog.
star in a new police social media campaign using te reo.
Mauheni returned to limited duties just five months after his operation, and was stationed to Dunedin in October, 2017.