Police dogs practice fetching crooks

Published 11:15 pm Tuesday, September 16, 2008

ARLINGTON — He growled, barked and pulled on his leash.

Oscar, a 2-year-old police dog from Tacoma, was raring to go after a bad guy.

“Leave me alone! Go away!” shouted a man armed with a knife.

Oscar’s handler, Tacoma police officer Chris Martin, let the dog off his leash.

Oscar attacked the man, bit his arm and knocked him down, making it safe for a team of officers to move in and put the criminal in handcuffs.

The scenario, played out over and over again Tuesday, was part of the Washington State Police Canine Association’s twice yearly training offered in Snohomish County through today.

The bad guy was actually a police officer wearing padded clothing.

“It’s like being in a marshmallow suit,” Lynnwood police officer Jake Shorthill said. “It’s so padded, you don’t feel anything.”

The scenario was a way for the dog to experience working with a team of officers, and for the officers to practice using a dog as one more weapon in an arsenal of less-than-lethal tools, organizers said. The make-believe bad guy also was hit with a percussion bomb and a bean bag fired from a shotgun.

About 100 police dogs and their handlers from Washington, Oregon and British ­Columbia participated in the training exercises hosted by the Lynnwood Police Department at the Arlington Airport and locations in Lynnwood and Monroe.

Dogs, with their highly sensitive sense of smell, are used by police to help track and detain bad guys and sniff down drugs, bombs and bodies, among other things.

The training is an important time for the dogs and their handlers to practice real-life scenarios, said Ed Bylsma, a police dog handler from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and a master trainer.

He was running an exercise where an officer had to try to catch two armed criminals who were bailing out of a car.

“This whole scenario was meant to put stress on (the dog and the handler),” Bylsma said. “We can train our dogs, but we also have to train ourselves.”

Mike Braley and Quay, a 3-year-old German shepherd, were praised for making smart, quick decisions when they were put through the paces.

“It gives some different training scenarios for us to work with and helps us grow as a handler team,” Braley, an Everett police officer, said. “This is always a lot of fun.”

Everett police officer Suzanne Eviston was helping to teach teams how to get in and out of a helicopter. That would be important if a police dog was needed to track someone down in a remote location, she said.

Eviston and her dog partner, Axle, were seriously injured in a crash while trying to catch a burglary suspect in July 2007. The partners returned to work as a team a few weeks ago. Axle helped catch a bad guy his first night back on duty, Eviston said.

Now, Eviston, who breeds police dogs and helps train the animals and their handlers, is turning her attention to the dogs’ final years.

When police dogs retire, they don’t get a doggie pension or retirement fund, Eviston said. Instead, their handlers typically adopt the animals as pets and take on responsibility for their veterinary bills.

The dogs usually retire at around age 10 and can live for about another three years. The bills can add up, she said.

Eviston is helping to create a fund to pay medical bills for the retired dogs.

She’s hopeful the community will help support the retired dogs the same way people stepped forward to help her and Axle after their accident.

Eviston said she’s still a bit sore at times, but she’s pleased to be back in uniform working with Axle.

“We’re both wounded warriors,” she said. “We’re happy to be here and serve the community again.”

Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com.