Former pet of the week finds a home as a drug-sniffing dog
DECATUR – For her admission test, she had to go into a darkenedroom. she had to leap onto chairs and manage stairs. she couldn’tbe startled by any environmental sounds or fall down on slickfloors. Most of all, she had to love the ball tossed to her.
And Sharee passed with flying colors.
Monday she received her own police dog badge when she wasofficially adopted by Sgt. Eric Helton, canine section supervisorwith the Illinois State Police.
“I feel like I’m filling out a bank loan application,” Heltonjoked as he filled out papers to adopt Sharee with Irene Peterson,president of the Humane Society of Decatur and Macon County.
Sharee has lived with the society since being found as a strayon Lost Bridge Road a few weeks ago. Peterson said when the dogfirst arrived she had a parasitic infection and problems with herears. The society believes she’s a Labrador retriever, probablymixed with German shorthair pointer. This is the first time thehumane society has had an adoption of a dog going into policetraining, Peterson said.
Helton learned about Sharee after a photograph was publishedabout a month ago as part of the Herald & Review’s Pet of theWeek feature. Officer Steve Jostes, day shift canine officer withthe Decatur Police Department, alerted Helton after he saw the dogwith her always-in-her-mouth ball, he said. he knew that was a signshe might be a candidate for becoming a narcotics search dog,Helton said.
“What we are looking at is ball drive, the ‘hunt’ drive,” Heltonsaid, “and how possessive she is of the ball. if they chase theirtoy, then they are easier to train for narcotics training.”
Monday, even as he talked about Sharee’s adoption, the dog beganto respond to Helton’s commands to sit and to drop the ball. Thatwas important, Helton said, because her training will includemaking a passive alert response, sitting, when she does searchesafter her training.
Helton said even though Sharee will be a narcotics dog, she’llalso be a family dog. She’ll have Helton as her trainer, but may ormay not be assigned to him. Helton already has a resident BelgianMalinois, he said, but that dog’s personality is not the same asSharee’s.
“He’s like a bull in a china shop. she is not.”
Helton said as far back as 2000 the Illinois State Police beganlooking in shelters and humane society facilities for dogs whichmight be suitable for training and not come with an expensive aprice tag like the Malinois, which is frequently used in lawenforcement.
“I was very concerned,” Peterson admitted when she consideredSharee’s adoption by the state police. “She’s a people dog. Ididn’t want her to be sitting in a cage.”
Helton said Sharee will officially begin training at the caninefacility in Pawnee on March 1.
“There are 24 kennels there, inside and outside. she will be the32nd dog in the program.”
She’ll also be agility trained, he said.
“This was a great opportunity for this dog. here she is, atwo-year-old mixed breed who is set to become a police dog,”Peterson said.
amannlein@herald-review.com|421-6976
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