Portsmouth K-9 officer Tim Black readies his two dogs, Turbo and Kai, for the Working Dog Foundation annual Handler Appreciation Dinner in Portsmouth on Monday 4/11/05.
Photo by Jackie Ricciardi

K-9 kudos

By Alice Standish
news@seacoastonline.com

PORTSMOUTH - Police officers honored their four-legged partners Monday night at the Working Dog Foundation's third annual New Hampshire Police K-9 Academy Handlers Appreciation Dinner Handlers and their K-9 partners from three New England states joined family, volunteers and friends of the foundation at Frank Jarvis Center to honor the top K-9 teams."This evening is to pay tribute to police dog handlers," said Portsmouth Police Capt. David "Lou" Ferland, creator of the Working Dog Foundation. "It's to honor these dogs and
their heroic handlers."

Sgt. George Joy and K-9 Heikko of the Barrington Police Department earned Handler of the Year honors, and the Case of the Year award went to Sgt. Mark Chamberlain and K-9 Argo of the Swanzey Police Department.

Portsmouth resident Lori Smith, who spent the past 15 years donating her secretarial skills to the foundation, was presented the Volunteer of the Year award.

"It's definitely a labor of love," she said

The foundation is a grassroots organization run entirely by volunteers. It raises money to purchase police dogs for departments throughout New Hampshire.

In addition to purchasing the dogs, the foundation provides training for handlers at its K-9 Training Academy at Pease International Tradeport. It is the only accredited K-9 training academy in New England.

Training may take four to six months and consists of nothing but positive reinforcement, according to Dover patrolman John Usher, who heads the training staff.

"We teach handlers to train their own dogs," Usher said. "It may take longer to train, but you get a better dog."

The school has graduated more than 150 dogs and their handlers, placed 72 dogs in police departments statewide and has been the national training model for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for the past nine years.

The academy's dogs also fare well in United States Police Academy competitions. All academy dogs compete for certification that requires them to meet the minimum U.S. SPCA requirements and many compete for the higher ranks of Police Dog I and II.