㽶Ƶֱ

Skip to content

㽶ƵֱWhen he gets home, he can chill out㽶Ƶֱ: A B.C. RCMP dog㽶Ƶֱs day in the life

A canine officer㽶Ƶֱs day could include helping with raids, sniffing for evidence or tracking suspects

After his West Shore RCMP shifts end, police dog Luthor goes back to the home of his handler Const. Dave Hough for some downtime with the family.

㽶ƵֱHe understands that when we㽶Ƶֱre going home, he can turn that part of his brain off and chill out and be a dog,㽶Ƶֱ Hough said.

But if a call comes in at 3 a.m. for the duo to attend a crime scene, Luthor quickly switches into his police dog role.

㽶ƵֱWe㽶Ƶֱre both sound asleep and the phone rings, then five minutes later (we㽶Ƶֱre) driving down the road.㽶Ƶֱ

Luthor and Hough are called upon to perform various police tasks, ranging from tracking down a suspect who fled a scene to participating in large-scale raids, such as January㽶Ƶֱs search of the Savages motorcycle clubhouse in Langford.

㽶ƵֱWe㽶Ƶֱll get called for evidence searches, which could be a firearm or anything with human odour on it or anything potentially ditched by a suspect.㽶Ƶֱ

Searching for a suspect or tracking down evidence is not as simple as waving a piece of clothing in front of the dog㽶Ƶֱs nose and then running off to find the person in question.

㽶ƵֱThat㽶Ƶֱs a bit of a movie thing, and the primary reason we can㽶Ƶֱt do that is we don㽶Ƶֱt typically have an item on hand,㽶Ƶֱ Hough said.

The pair㽶Ƶֱs team is about to grow as they await a new police dog who is set to join the West Shore force after graduating from training.

Puppies turned police dogs are usually bred and raised by their handlers. After seven weeks, they㽶Ƶֱre weaned off their mothers and undergo various tests to see if they could be suitable canine officers. The police pups are then sent to an RCMP training facility in Alberta before they enter the field with their handler.

Hough has been a police dog handler for three years and was lucky to be in training at the same time as Luthor 㽶Ƶֱ the sixth puppy raised by the constable.

㽶ƵֱI was fortunate when he became training age, I was starting my training on the course, so we went through the program together.㽶Ƶֱ

During their training, the dogs will specialize in sniffing out drugs or bombs. The needs of the detachment they㽶Ƶֱre going to will determine what type of role they will ultimately fulfil.

READ:





(or

㽶Ƶֱ

) document.head.appendChild(flippScript); window.flippxp = window.flippxp || {run: []}; window.flippxp.run.push(function() { window.flippxp.registerSlot("#flipp-ux-slot-ssdaw212", "Black Press Media Standard", 1281409, [312035]); }); }