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MEET
RPD Axle
German Shepherd
Derbyshire Constabulary
General Purpose
2011 – 2022
MORE ABOUT RETIRED POLICE DOG AXLE
RPD Axle was bred and trained in Germany – using German commands – before coming to the UK in 2012 to join Derbyshire Constabulary. He worked for six years with his handler and had a dramatic career.
In July 2018 he made headlines after being stabbed as he chased and detained a suspect. He’d been knifed three times and needed two life-saving surgeries.
His former handler said he was an excellent police dog who caught ‘countless’ criminals.
The following year he received a special award for his bravery before retiring when he was adopted by Karen Pykett and her family at their smallholding.


Karen, who was working with the police, met Axle and offered to take him on. She said: “Axle wasn’t great around new people or other dogs, and had never lived in a house before. We knew he’d be a challenge but with lots of time and patience, we got there.”
The family learned German so they could communicate with him and enjoyed spoiling him in his retirement.
He enjoyed playing in the garden, chewing his toys and snoozing in the sun.
He fell ill suddenly in September 2022 when his spleen ruptured and had to be put to sleep.

IN MEMORY OF
RPD AXLE 2011-2022
“Vets said there was nothing we could do without prolonging his suffering, so we had to lose him. He was just over 11 so a great age and we had the pleasure of looking after him for three years after he retired – not bad for a lad who was stabbed in the line of duty!” – Karen
BENEFICIARIES OF OUR GRANTS

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Your sponsorship pack will include:
- Sponsorship certificate
- Photo of your sponsor dog
- A cuddly German Shepherd teddy
- Quarterly email updates on your sponsor dog

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