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Today's dog treat is a special guest
article by Karen McGeorge Sanders and Carole Flynn White who work in
conjunction with the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office in
Washington. Meet Deputy Baker, possibly the most successful
"failure" since Albert Einstein!
K-9 Detective Baker
(Photo: Adrienne Nichols / Photo Phases; and "Pennies for
Puppies"©)
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Baker uses an aggressive alert
technique. After being given the command "find it," his behavior
changes from a friendly pooch to a focused and alert canine.  His
snout goes from the typical mouth-open, relaxed dog breathing to having
his mouth closed and nose sniffing as he concentrates on smell. His
tail "flags," being held in a straight up position as he works
close to a scent. Once he has the source, he'll use his front paws
to scratch at the target.
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What do you do with a dog who fails duck
hunting school? Send him to the police academy, of course!
That's what happened to Baker, a black lab who went from being an unloved
duck hunting failure to become a cherished, successful drug detection dog
for the State of Washington's Snohomish County Sheriff's Office.
Born into a long line of champion hunting
labs, Baker is a tall, coal black dog that seemed destined to be a
champion. He was sent to California by his owner to be trained as a
field trial dog, a program that only has time to train the best of the
best. Unfortunately, Baker proved inadequate for the intensive
training, being more interested in playing with the ducks than in retrieving
them. He flunked!
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K-9 Detective Baker alerts on the odor of
cocaine hidden in the gas tube of a "suspect's" car during a
community demonstration for "Pennies for Puppies."© (Photo:
Desiree Dunham, Snohomish, WA. Courtesy of "Pennies for
Puppies"©)
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Baker's life changed when Detective Fred Helfers, a member of the Everett (WA) Police Department's Narcotics Squad,
was notified by the owner that Baker needed a home. Det. Helfers, who trains detection dogs for
police and fire departments at Cedarhome Kennels, saw Baker's potential right away.
"I look for
dogs that have drive, intensity, and a willingness to please, which Baker
had in abundance," he says.
But it takes more than drive to make a
detection dog—there
is also lots of training involved. It takes 12 to 16 weeks to train a dog who
can be taught to find anything from drugs, to natural gas, to accelerants
(arson starters), to insects. Baker became a commissioned law
enforcement officer with the rank of Detective in August of 1997 and since that time, he's been instrumental in the seizure of close to
$5,000,000 USD in drugs and drug dealer assets.
| Estimated cost to train a dog in drug-detection |
$5,000 |
| Drugs/assets seized by Baker (last 5 years) |
$5,000,000 |
| Baker's average annual
"Return-on-Investment" |
20000% |
| Conclusion |
Not bad! |
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Baker is brought to you by...
the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office K-9
Unit operations, made possible
through the generosity of private citizens, school fundraisers, businesses
and civic groups who have participated in the "Pennies for
Puppies" program.
For a teeny donation (as little
as $10), you can contribute to the cause, and Pennies for Puppies
will mail you the gorgeous "K-9 2002!" calendar
(featuring amazing photography of
K-9s in action). Also
available is the "K-9 Kolors!" coloring book
...which I've been unable to complete since Wags ate all my
crayons.
Email P4Pups@aol.com
for more info!
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"Education and deterrence are major
factors in enforcing zero-tolerance drug policies in our schools and
communities", says Detective Suzy Johnson, Baker's human half, a
10-year veteran of the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office and a member of
the Snohomish Regional Narcotics Task Force. "Our proactive
presence through Pennies for Puppies demonstrations is
making drug use and dealing in schools a very unattractive proposition for
everyone involved." A recent incident at a local high school
illustrates the truth of this statement:
While walking through the school's
parking lot after an impressive demonstration on the ease with which Baker
can find drugs in lockers and backpacks, Detectives Johnson and Baker were
spotted by a student with a homemade drug pipe in his car.
Panicking, the student fled the school grounds and hid in a swamp, where
he was quickly found and turned over to his parents.
Det. Johnson has recently accepted promotion to another operation in
the Sheriff's Office and will be leaving Narcotics later this
year. That means Baker
will be retired at that time and will live out his days at home with Det.
Johnson. "He's not only my partner, he's my best friend,"
she says. "He's my family."
Looking back on a successful, 5-year drug-detection career, you can
almost hear Baker the famous "duck hunting failure" say, "Who
needs ducks? I have a badge!"
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