Prince George, B.C.-  When it comes to the game of Hide and Seek,  Prince George  Police Service Dog “Astro” ( in photo at right, courtesy PGRCMP) is the champ.

"Our police service dogs are a crucial part of the service we provide to our community" says Cpl. Craig Douglass, spokesperson for the Prince George RCMP.  "Their unique abilities cannot be duplicated and their results are often amazing.”

Case in point,  a recent search for a missing child.

Prince George RCMP received a call about a 5 year old boy who was missing, his mother hadn’t seen him in an hour, and  had  searched the house from top to bottom, but no sign of the boy.

At least three police officers  did their own search of the premises, but still,  no  sign of the child.

That’s when  “Astro” and his handler were called in.

Astro  did a perimeter sniff of the property and confirmed no one had left the home.

The  permission was granted for Astro to  do his own search inside the house.

Once inside the boy’s room, Astro  started giving  his handler signs that there was definitely someone in that room.

Astro  then focused on a 6 drawer dresser, and in a move that could be considered the canine version of calling out “Olly Olly Oxen Free”, stuck his head inside one of the drawers.

His handler started  to remove the drawers,  and  sure enough,  there was the missing child,  asleep under the bank of drawers.

A happy ending for all involved.