They might not look it right now, but some of these adorably cute puppies will soon be Essex’s latest batch of hard-nosed crime fighters.
The family-owned Amfides K9 kennel in Anglesey, Wales - which supplies dogs to Essex Police - has had a litter of ten new pups which will, in the near future, be part of force's dog unit.
When they are fully-trained, the German Shepherds will help officers to track down criminals and sniff for stolen goods or drugs.
But at just two weeks old, these pups are only just getting used to the world and learning to walk.
Owner Mark Sharpe has the tough job of working out which of the adorable faces has what it takes to become a police dog.
He said that at the moment they are all very calm - but that by the time they reach five weeks, they will be very boisterous.
"That's when you'll see them start to run around and tip over plant pots and do things they're not supposed to do but for now they just lay there and sleep," the 52-year-old added.
"Their brains aren't fully developed yet so in these first eight weeks they tend to act as one pack and that's when we can do a lot of work to set the foundation."
The pups do not yet have names, as Mr Clarke prefers to leave that to the police dog handlers who eventually take them on.
"A lot of thought goes into the decision to match the personalities and characters of the dogs to their handlers," he said.
"We raise them in a family setting so get to do a lot more than bigger commercial companies and we raise friendly well behaved dogs who can still do everything they need to out in the field."
Two of the pups will be picked up by Essex Police just before Christmas on Monday, December 23, when they will be matched with their new owners.
The little ones will be joining a huge family of service dogs as their uncle, PD Olly, already works with Essex Police in the dog unit.
Their other uncles, Cliff and Arnie, work with Kent Tactical Police and Gloustershire Police Dogs.
For now the pups are just pawfectly content being asleep.
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