The Moose Jaw Board of Police Commissioners was introduced to PSD Draco, the newest member of the Moose Jaw Police Service canine unit.
Draco, a 17-month-old Belgian Malinois, came to the Moose Jaw Police Service from a 17-year veteran of the Regina Police Service canine unit.
That officer had purchased two dogs, including Draco, to train independently.
“He was training one as a possible patrol dog and one as a drug detection dog. This is the patrol dog he was attempting to train,” said Const. Curtis Amiot, who is now Draco’s handler.
Amiot took custody of Draco in late March, and they began training on March 31 with skills such as tracking, evidence searches, person searches, apprehension, obedience and agility.
Draco completed his training on June 23, and Amiot said they were able to fast-track his validation.
“Because I’m an experienced handler, I don’t have to fulfill our requirements for a first-time handler, which is typically 640 hours. We were able to get his validation, largely because of the amount of pre-training he came with, in 10 weeks,” Amiot said.
He added that the police service is fortunate to have an older dog that so that Draco can be eased into different situations. For example, Amiot pointed to two operations that took place Tuesday where, because of the potential for firearms, they used a more experienced dog accustomed to being around guns.
That being said, Amiot feels Draco will be an asset to the Moose Jaw Police Service.
“It’s very promising. Once he matures at two years of age, I think he’s going to be a really valuable and successful dog with us,” he said.
Draco will take over for PSD Argo, who is set to retire from patrol at the end of the year. Argo is suffering from a bulged disc in his back. Through rehab and therapy, Amiot said Argo should be able to stay on the street until year’s end, barring any setbacks.
Following his retirement from patrol, Amiot hopes Argo can be trained as a drug detection dog, something the Moose Jaw Police Service hasn’t had in the past 10 years.