Anyone looking for a show for a school coming up to the end of the year could do a lot worse than checking out Senior Constable Andrew Knox, trusty canine Ra, and work and kennel mates at the Hawke's Bay Police Dog Patrol.
Mr Knox and Ra come with a good rap - third place in the national police dog championships and the Monaghan Trophy for best heeling dog when the events were run at the police dog training centre at Trentham and at the Tauherenikau racecourse just over a fortnight ago.
It was one of the best police Eastern district outcomes at the annual championships, surpassing the fourth placing achieved by handler Mike Warren and Zyger in 2010.
Mr Knox and former dog Stein were eighth in 2012, and he and Ra went close to claiming the major honour in this year's September 11-13 championships.
They were denied when they snared just two of the three "offenders" in the last exercise of the showdown among dogs and handlers from around the country, ultimately won by Canterbury team Craig Moore and dog Oza, with second place going to Auckland dog Quid and handler Owen Davies.