In pursuit of paw-fection

If you’re a fan of New Zealand Police dogs, chances are you’re familiar with the work of Sergeant Jane Dunn.

Away from her day job as the first National Forensic Imaging Trainer, and formerly a forensic photographer, Jane is the creative force behind some of the most recognisable images of our police dogs and handlers – not to mention our youngest floof recruits.

Devoting hours of her own time to showcasing our canine colleagues – on and off duty – her pursuit of paw-fection has once again been recognised with the award for best photograph in the 2025 Police Dog Trust Calendar.

Jane's winning image of Niho features as the main month image for August 2025. "She's a stunning-looking dog and she did as she was told," says Jane. "You're looking for a dog that has that control and Sue [her handler] had amazing control over her and it made for a cute photo."

Her winning image of patrol dog Niho on Ototoka beach is one Jane’s proud of, but despite having won the top prize multiple times, she says sharing her images for others to judge is still nerve-wracking.

“I get nervous every single time because you’re putting yourself out there. I commit to these dogs, these handlers and these photos, but you just never know if people are going to like them.

“So, any time someone appreciates the photos you've taken, or you win something for a photo you've taken, it always feels special because - especially in my role - people don't really look at your photos and tell you how nice they are.”

Niho’s photo is one of several images by Jane to feature in the 2025 calendar, including the cover shot and both sides of the pull-out poster. But she is keen to credit those who helped her get the shots, including the dogs’ handlers and Simone Botterill from the Police Dog Training Centre.

“Simone helps as my dog wrangler with some of my operational shoots and she was very helpful with my winning image to get the dog’s attention with the handler,” she says.

“I put a lot of time and effort into my dog photos. I spend hours and hours planning them so when the image comes out the way I wanted you feel ecstatic.

“I’m pretty excited about the photos chosen this year.”

One of her favourites is of Constable Sarah Stichbury and patrol dog Ari at the beach, above. The photo, taken from behind with the sun going down, features as the main image for September.

“I loved that image when I took it and I love the idea of that image,” says Jane.

“Sarah told me she used to take Ari to that beach to play and get some relief when he’d been working really hard, and I thought that’s quite a cool place because it’s somewhere special for her and the dog.

“When I took the image, I thought to myself this is really cool because the sunset worked perfectly with the location with the stairs. It all just came together.”

Another personal favourite is of detector dog Ripper bounding through the waves, below, which features in January 2026.

“It's one of those images you plan but never think you're going to get,” says Jane.

“I always say to the handler, ‘I'm going to do this photo, but can you just throw a toy for your dog’. I want to see how they run because every dog is slightly different in the way they engage. So, I got him to throw for her and she just ran so beautifully I thought I wonder what she'll do in the water.”

The results speak for themselves. The image was captured in the first set of photos.

“It's one of those photos that you get in the back of the camera and you're just hoping like hell that her eyes are in focus.

“The way she engaged in that space with the water was spectacular.

“She's looking straight down the lens, which is what you always hope for, her eye was in focus, I love that one of her ears is covering one of the eyes and she almost looks like she's wearing a scarf of water.

“I was over the moon with that photo, I just thought she looked so cool.”

The best thing about this image of Lux...? "The cloud had come over slightly, so it wasn't direct sunlight and we were able to have the dog fully lit and it's not too bright behind her, " says Jane.

Black dogs, like Ripper, are considered by many to be notoriously hard to photograph, but not Jane - as demonstrated by her May photo of black patrol dog Lux leaping from the roof of a derelict car.

Over the years, Jane says she’s had to figure out ways to get the German Shepherds to launch forward when they jump as they usually prefer getting back to the ground as quickly as possible. Not so for Lux.

“A German Shepherd doesn’t want to be in the air, they want to be running, but with Lux she just jumped. I watched her do it a couple of times and that was just her personality – she liked to jump.

“I love that image because I think people engage with it. She looks dynamic, you can see the muscles in her and she looks engaged. My intention is to always have the dogs looking like they’re engaged.

“It worked out well with the light and location and I’m over the moon that photo is a month, because she's a beautiful looking dog and I think she deserves to have her face in there with those big old ears she's got.”

A story about the Police Dog trust calendar wouldn't be complete without at least one puppy shot. These mini floofs feature on one side of the pull-out poster. 

As a key contributor to the Police Dog Trust calendar, Jane says her motivation has changed over the years from initially being about the competition to have her images featured to becoming more about the dogs and their handlers.

“It’s a huge part of me now. When I take a photo, if the handler is happy with it that's all that matters to me.

“It's my cathartic way of still doing photography where I'm not looking at death and destruction and all that kind of stuff. It's good for me but I hope that they enjoy it and they get something good out of it too. That's always my intention.”