Named after the England rugby star Maro Itoje, the brown and white puppy is full of energy, racing around the courtyard of Thames Valley Police Headquarters in Kidlington.
Mark Mackintosh is volunteering his time as a puppy socialiser, which involves taking Maro into his home until he is about a year old.
Maro will eventually work as a police dog, also known as a K-9.
Mr Mackintosh’s job is introduce Maro to as many new environments and experiences as possible, which includes taking him into shops, care homes, schools, and even his daughter’s Rainbow’s class.
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Explaining the process, Mr Mackintosh said: “The police force gets hold of puppies, and rather than keeping them in the kennels with the rest of the working dogs, there are a network of volunteers who will give up their time to take a puppy into their homes and work through environmental training with them.
“Because they’re trying to be police dogs, they have more access to places than you typically get from a pet.
“He has a little tag that goes on his lead which means that I can walk into Sainsbury’s and they’re happy for me to bring him in there, so he gets used to being in different environments so that when he starts working and starts sniffing for things he shouldn’t be too distracted by what’s going on around him.”
He said volunteering to be a puppy socialiser for the police has been ‘really rewarding’, with Maro being his first police dog.
“I want to say he’s always a pleasure to be around – he can be a bit of a hooligan to be honest,” he laughed.
“He’s a Springer Spaniel so that’s quite natural, he’s got absolute bags of energy. I’m walking a lot more than I was before.
“My family love him, he’s great addition. And I’m sure he’ll make a fantastic police dog – he’s got got the personality to do it.”
Maro will stay with Mr Mackintosh, who works in the police force’s corporate communications team, for another six-and-a-half months, after which he will go to a handler who he’ll continue his training with before he starts working.
“I’ve made it very very clear just with myself and with my family that he’s got a really important job to do, potentially a life-saving job,” he said.
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“So we’ve got that expectation that he’s only with us temporarily, so that that will mitigate any blow.”
Mr Mackintosh said it is ‘absolutely’ something he would recommend doing – and it is something anyone can do.
Those who are interested can apply for the role online.