Another Belgian Malinois is in training to become a K-9 officer for the Lyon County Sheriff’s Department.
The dog, named “Goose,” replaces Tito, the department’s previous K-9 officer. Tito suffers from congestive heart failure and heart arrythmia.
“He doesn’t have the endurance to do patrol work,” said Deputy Cory Doudican, certified trainer and handler for the local department.
Tito is on the job now with the Coffey County Sheriff’s Department, where he is being used only for narcotics work.
Because of his condition, Tito was unable to perform all of the tasks that the local K-9s are expected to do, including tracking both criminals and missing people and being ready to assist a deputy in danger. The latter had become an officer-safety issue.
Sniffing out narcotics at a vehicle stop, however, is well within Tito’s health capabilities.
“Life will be easy for him, and he still gets to go to work and do something that he loves to do,” Doudican said.
The deputy already has one former K-9 partner, Sarge, living at home with his family. Sarge was injured when he jumped out of a semi-tractor trailer cab and could not be rehabilitated to full strength.
Now Goose, who will be 2 years old in November, has joined the Doudican household.
“He’s my wing man,” Doudican said, explaining how the dog’s name came about: “Top Gun” is one of his favorite movies.
For a time, Goose was allowed in the house to become acquainted with members of the family; now he lives outside, as most K-9 officers do, in his own accommodations.
The officer and the dog start their day with a two-mile run to acclimate Goose to the sights and sounds around him, and to give him an opportunity for relaxation and stress relief.
“It takes the edge off the dog,” Doudican said.
Then the pair spend two to three hours in practice, while Goose hones his skills in tracking narcotics and other odors. When the dog locates the scent he’s assigned to find, Doudican is teaching him to give a passive response, by sitting next to the source. Dogs trained to be aggressive when they find drugs scratch at the area instead of sitting.
Goose seems to be responding well.
The Malinois came to Lyon County from Colby.
“He’s had no training whatever done with him,” Doudican said. “Their handler quit.”
Undersheriff Richard Old estimated that the county had saved between $4,000 and $4,500 by getting Goose from Colby.
“I just know that we needed the new dog and it could be as much as $8,500. We were able to work it out to where it didn’t cost anywhere near that much so I’m happy about it,” Old said.
“He’s a very trainable dog, a social dog,” Doudican said. “He’s very fast. He’s a size I like — 50 pounds.”
The smaller dog will be easier for the officer to lift into attics and other places he can’t easily leap into.
“He’s going to be a fun dog to handle,” the deputy said. “He’ll be good with the kids in the school, good with public relations.”
Goose now is in the middle of his training, and it has been more than convenient for the local department to have a certified trainer working with the dog.
Doudican received his certification from the Kansas Highway Patrol, which uses the Utah Post curriculum that is compatible with German police standards, he said.
He will teach K-9 officers and their handlers in a class in Sedgwick County.
“I should be be done with narcotics in a couple of weeks,” Doudican said. “... and I’ll just finish his patrol work up while I’m down there teaching class.”
Along the way to completing his training, Goose will learn the fine points of “pain compliance.” Doudican described the skill as a “solid bite” in which the dog hangs on.
“And not biting you here and here and here and tearing up people,” Doudican said, illustrating the difference between a dog attacking and a trained dog holding a prisoner. “We don’t want to cause damage to people. All we want to do is cause compliance.”
Preparing dogs to become K-9 officers is simpler than it sounds, Doudican said.
“You just got to know dog psychology and the traits of the dog,” he said, “and you adapt what works in each dog.”
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