A DYFED Powys Police dog has been named as a finalist for a competition honouring Britain’s best heroes after finding a missing woman and her baby on a perilous steep ravine on his first-ever shift.

Max has now reached the final four of the Hero Pets category in the Amplifon Awards for Brave Britons 2021 after playing the crucial role in leading police to the missing pair.

The German shepherd and handler PC Peter Lloyd will now be invited to the virtual awards presentation on Tuesday, October 5. The event will be hosted by BBC1 TV breakfast and Radio 5 Live presenter Rachel Burden and Falklands War hero Simon Weston will be the guest of honour.

Max and PC Lloyd were on their first shift together when they were deployed to the search for the missing woman and her one-year-old child, in a remote area of Powys. The woman had not been seen or spoken to for two days, which was out of character, and her phone wasn’t working.

The search of a reservoir and woodland area involved Brecon Mountain Rescue Team and a police helicopter as well as a search expert and additional policing units.

The then-two-year-old Max covered a significant distance to track the mother and baby down within 90 minutes, putting into action his specialist training.

The pair were searching in a deep fern area when they heard a shout, before Max began to guide PC Lloyd to where he thought the sound was coming from.

The officer then spotted the missing woman waving for help on the mountain side and was able to get to her before alerting his colleagues. She was helped down and both were checked over by a doctor and the ambulance service.

PC Lloyd said: “Police dogs train hard for these types of situations and Max had had about 15 months of training at that point, but it was still a great result on his first shift after such a long and difficult search.

“He remained focused on the task in hand and proved invaluable at guiding us to where the woman and her baby were, ensuring they got to safety as quickly as possible. He has since been called out to search for other high-risk missing persons, which is common in this area, and we’re all really proud of him.”