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I Fell for Boris...

I Fell for Boris...
by Dr. Christina J. Johns
Law, Power and Justice Syndicate

April 23, 2001

I fell for Boris the first time I set eyes on him.

I was walking across the TV set towards two men when Boris turned his magnificent head and looked at me intently. Slim and toned and fit, the word that came into my head was "handsome."

He had jet black hair and brown eyes that seemed to be trying to look inside me, as if he could by staring at me see just what kind of person I was. He wasn't that friendly when I said hello to him, not very friendly, but keenly interested. Before we had finished taping the television program, I wanted to take him home with me.

Boris is a professional, a specialist who works for the K-9 Unit of the Tallahassee Police Department. He has gone through over 400 hours of training to track fleeing persons, and search dark buildings for suspects and narcotics. He's also a dog.

Boris is one of the seven shepherds who form one half of a human/dog team of specialists working for the police department K-9 Unit. The shepherds are imported from breeders all over Europe. Boris happens to be Hungarian.

The shepherd dogs are somewhat expensive, around $1200, but well worth the investment. During the course of my interview with the trainer, Officer Mark Pevy, and Sgt. Kelly Burke, I learned the following:

The dogs used now by most police departments are smaller than the 100 pound shepherds commonly bred in the United States. The European dogs commonly weigh in at 60-70 pounds, are more agile, and easier to handle.

Police Departments have tried a number of different species of dogs (even poodles) for narcotics, bomb and tracking, but shepherds are considered the best - temperamentally and physically.

Dobermans have been used for K-9 work, but they have the unfortunate habit of biting the suspect more than a few times. The wounds that result are more serious, and the dog's hold is less effective. Shepherds put their full weight behind the lunge that pins the suspect and once they have a bite hold, they won't let go until the trainer tells them to.

Dobermans are particular. They don't like working when it's cold and rainy, shepherds don't seem to mind.

Shepherds are also good at what one officer called the "on/off" command. They can deal with a bunch of kids pawing all over them and trying to ride them, and then switch to working dogs ready to go.

The dogs are most useful at night when there are fewer smells and fewer distractions around, and when police officers aren't able to see that well, such as when a suspect is hiding in a dark building.

The police department doesn't get the dogs when they are pups. There's too much you can't tell about the dog when he's that young. They usually get them when they are around a year or a little older.

There are a number of things that can disqualify a dog from K-9 work. Some dogs won't walk on a slippery floor, like tile. Some dogs are height sensitive, and won't walk up stairs that you can see through down to the floor.

The best dogs are "high retrievers" i.e., dogs that will pick up objects and bring them back to you even when you don't throw them. These are the kind of dogs for whom throwing a tennis ball and letting them find it and retrieve it, is heaven.

Departments have different policies about using dogs in residential areas. Mostly, though, they are reluctant to do so. There was a recent incident in Jacksonville, Florida where officers put a dog through a window and the dog bit a child. As Sgt. Kelly Burke of the Tallahassee Police Department explained it, there is a high risk when you put a dog in a house. The dog goes in to get somebody, and will get whomever it finds. Sometimes that person is in the house legitimately. The neighbor who phoned the police might think a burglar is in the house, but be unaware that the person is the owner returned early from work, or the owner's friend, or relative. It's just too risky in most instances.

Even when dogs are sent into businesses, Sgt. Burke says, the police are required to have a key holder on the premises. That key holder must verify that nobody is authorized to be in the building before the dogs can go in.

Both Burke and Pevy confirmed something I had heard before, that is that many suspects give up the minute they hear the dog bark. The K-9 dogs are trained to bark on command, so that when the police officer releases the dog into an area, the officer warns the suspect and has the dog bark to convince any doubters.

I once went to get my morning paper and found that the neighborhood news agent had been burglarized during the night. The burglar had broken in, set off the alarm and then hidden when the police arrived. The officers could not find the man, and when the K-9 dog arrived, they had him bark once. The burglar came out pleading. "I'm coming. I'm coming. Don't let that dog loose on me." The man was not only trembling, he had stains all down the front of his pants.

Boris' owner, Officer Mark Pevy, told me that the dogs get excited even before they go on a chase. He says that when he lays his uniform out to get dressed, Boris tries to help him get his shoes and even put them on, and before Mark finishes, Boris is jumping against the front door, saying: "Let's go. Let's go."

Mark says that when he pushes the accelerator in the squad car in a particular way, Boris knows that they are going on a chase. Boris gets as excited as anyone else, leaning forward, anticipating the work ahead.

I can just imagine him thinking in doggie language: "Alright. Alright. Let's go. Lemme' at him. Can't wait. Lemme' bite him this time."

Dogs Helping People:

Army of dogs trying to sniff out survivors (opens new window)

Books about Dogs:
Detector Dogs : Sniffing Out Trouble (opens Amazon.com site)
Cadaver Dog Handbook Forensic Training and Tactics for the Recovery of Human Remains (opens Amazon.com site)
Bomb Detection Dogs (opens Amazon.com site)
Police Dogs (opens Amazon.com site)