KINGMAN – On Friday, Sept. 10, the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office put on a K-9 demonstration for Grace Neal Preschool, a preschool and day-care center located next to St. John’s United Methodist Church. Sergeant McCool and his Dutch Shepherd Chase (aptly named after the character from Paw Patrol) visited with and talked to the kids about what the K-9s do in law enforcement.

Sergeant McCool explained briefly what police dogs like Chase do, such as keeping their handlers safe, sniffing out harmful items, and helping apprehend dangerous suspects. He told the kids some of Chase’s commands like fuss (German for foot) and platz (German for place) and then showed them in action: fuss commands Chase to go to his handler’s side and platz commands him to lay down. Chase also got an opportunity to show off his jumping and climbing abilities on the preschool’s playground and slide. This part of the presentation was met with many giggles and shouts from the kids.

Friday morning also introduced the children to the concept of positive reinforcement and how it helps handlers train their dogs. Sergeant McCool explained that Chase initially trained for 6 weeks, but regularly still needs to train nearly every week so he doesn’t forget. McCool also informed the children how police can use toys and hot dog treats as rewards in the training process.

At the end of his presentation, McCool spent several minutes answering the children’s questions which ranged from what kind of food Chase eats to what will happen to him after he retires as a K-9 unit. And, after much begging on the children’s end, Sergeant McCool got the chance to show the kids how his remote-controlled hatch on his vehicle works, and the kids erupted into uproarious laughter and excitement.

The presentation provided the children with a short but effective introduction into what police and their K-9s do daily, but also briefly touched on subjects of responsible dog ownership. Overall, it was a demonstration that truly brightened up the morning for a lot of excitable kids, and there’s no doubt that Chase and his abilities were chattered about for the remainder of the day.

Andrea L. Heer