A POLICE puppy has finally been named after Cheshire Constabulary asked the people to decide.

The eight-week-old German Shepherd was purchased by the force with a view of one day working for their dog unit, which is based in Winsford.

However, officers welcomed suggestions from the general public via Twitter for the new pup’s name, which was narrowed down to two: Ted and Bolt.

And it was Bolt that won with a landslide victory, securing an impressive 7,504 votes, completely thrashing Ted, which gained 1,378 votes.

Bolt, which is also the name of the self-titled Disney film about a canine superstar, will now be raised as a normal puppy, living with a member of Cheshire Police’s dog unit.

PC Greg Cross, from the dog unit, explained. “The idea is to bring him on over months and months and months.

“So we’ll do all the basic work, such as small bits of obedience and it will gradually build up over time whereby at the end of 18 months we’ll have a dog that can potentially go on a training course.

“We wouldn’t train the dog especially to be a police dog in his first 18 months, we'd just let the pup be a pup. Socialisation is also extremely important.

“But from 12 to 18 months we can start to fine-tune some of the skills and establish then whether he is likely to become an effective police dog.”

PC Cross said that once Bolt gets to 12-18-months-old, if his current owner is in a position to work him he will.

If not he’ll be given to another handler to go on a course to do his initial training. If Bolt is deemed unsuitable for police work, the force will look at other options.

Be sure to follow the Guardian over the next 18 months to see if Bolt makes the grade.