A police dog injured during an Armed Offenders Squad callout in Porirua three weeks ago has retained her National Police Dog title.
Ila received a deep slash across the top of her nose during the incident and had to have surgery.
Her handler, Senior Constable Jason Todd from Wellington, says it's great that she bounced back from the stabbing like this and performed well.
For the first time in the competition's history, two dogs and their handlers share the top honours.
Ila shares the title with first-time entrant, Turk. His handler, Constable Logan Marsh of Tauranga, says his dog also had some medical challenges in the past year so to reach the finals and then get a title is special.
