Mounties get gift dog from queen

CALGARY, Alberta, June 9 (UPI) -- The Royal Canadian Mounted Police received a gift from Queen Elizabeth in the form of a purebred yellow Labrador retriever who will work as a bomb-sniffer.

The queen's son, Prince Edward made the formal presentation of 16-month-old Suzanna to RCMP Commissioner William Elliott at a ceremony in Calgary, Alberta, the Globe and Mail reported.

The dog was born in February 2008 at the royal family's kennels at their country retreat at Sandringham and has already undergone training in socialization in crowded and noisy places, the report said. Until August, the dog will receive specialized training in detecting explosives, said Inspector Lawrence Aimoe, head of the canine training center.

He said if Suzanna does well, she would likely be deployed at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

Queen Elizabeth is the honorary commissioner of the RCMP, and since taking the throne in 1953 has received four gift horses from the force. She in turn has given the RCMP a horse and now the dog, the report said.