Last week two new recruits for our local police force made their debut at an open house event. 

The Moose Jaw Police Service is beefing up their K9 Unit, but shortly after they were introduced to the public, one of two new dogs was sent back as the force quickly discovered some issues. 

"We had two dogs and two handlers, unfortunately by the end of the week, one of the dogs had to be returned to the broker in Minnesota as he had health issues in his back end," explained Cst. Chad Scheske, Canine Coordinator for the local Police Service. "At the start of training obviously, we can't have any issues with the dog so as a result he was returned. We will get a replacement for him but unfortunately, that won't happen until the spring."

Cst. Chad Scheske and his K9 partner Siren.

However, Cst. Curtis Amiot and his K9 partner Argo remain in training and are progressing well. The Police Service held an open call a little while back for officers to try out for a spot in this section of the department. Cst. Amiot was the successful candidate and not only is completing his own training but is also helping his new partner Argo to do the same. 

There's plenty of reasons as to why the Police Service made the call to more than double the current amount of dogs and handlers in the K9 Unit. Prior to the newest recruits, there wasn't enough of them to share between all rotating shifts, which meant in some situations an officer and dog were called out when they were supposed to be off-duty.

Cst.Scheske has been in the K9 Unit just short of nine years and said he knows just as well as anyone that it takes much longer for an officer to get out of bed, get his gear on and grab his four-legged partner to get to the scene of a crime rather than someone who is on duty already.  

"If we can get that person contained and (the officer and dog) can get there in two minutes that increases the likelihood of a capture or finding that person greatly. It will definitely increase our chances of catching bad people. Also, the dog is a deterrent, a deterrent for crime, if people know that there's always a dog on maybe they're going to take a second thought about what they're doing."

Another few positives that he noted are that the Police Service doesn't have to pay someone over time to respond to a call during their time off as well as the Officer and dog will have fresh eyes coming into the situation. 

Most people know there's no bond like the one of a man and his furry best friend, which Cst. Scheske added is always very important during training and throughout the dog's career, they must always think of each other as partners. Noting that sometimes an officer in the K9 Unit will spend more time with the dog than anyone else. 

"You're trusting in your dog, he's the one that's going to tell you where the bad guy went. You don't have the nose that he has, so you have to trust your dog. Also, there are situations where you're going to have your dog (with you) and it can be very serious, whether it's a firearm or weapon-related call and you're going to trust in him that he's going to, if necessary, put his life on the line."

With one dog being sent back early it leaves an empty spot in the unit, Cst. Scheske said there will be another dog ready for training coming in the spring, along with a third dog that was already planned to arrive at that time.