GAYLORD, Mich., (WPBN/WGTU) — Michigan State Police hosted a K-9 training event in Gaylord on Thursday.
UpNorthLive News stopped by to meet the K-9 teams and learn more about why these training days are so vital to the MSP Seventh District.
Maggie, Knox and Loki are just three of the dogs that have a very important role within the seventh district.
At the Industrial Park in Gaylord, Michigan State PoliceK-9 teams set up a course to test the skills of both the canines and their partners.
These canines have a large range of specialized skills that include tracking, vapor bomb detection, narcotics and electronic detection.
“The seventh district has three canine handlers and five dogs assigned to the team in the region. We do many things in the area. We assist local agencies, we assist with protective details when the governor or presidential candidates come up here,” said Michigan State Police Lt. Derrick Carroll.
Lt. Carroll said these teams have also helped in missing persons cases.
“We’ve had some really good cases lately. We found an elderly woman. Trooper Scruggs, he had a missing three-year-old that they found recently. Trooper Whited he also found a fugitive that was out in the woods for another agency. So they’ve been doing a lot of good work up here,” Lt. Carroll said.
Lt. Carroll said that last year the seventh district has 344 calls for service.
And this year the calls keep increasing, which keeps the teams working nonstop.
“Between the three teams up here, there’s only about 30 days a year where they’re not getting a call, and this is in addition to their regular patrol activities. So these are troopers that are working the road, who are also K-9 team handlers, so these gentleman are very, very busy,” Lt. Carroll said.
Dogs like Maggie and her partner, Trooper Adam Whited, are trained in the Cyber Crimes Unit to track things like cell phones and SD cards.
Trooper Whited said it took about one month to train Maggie to detect electronics.
“There’s actually proprietary glue that’s used in all the electronics and their trained to smell the glue, because every electronics has this special glue that they have to use in order for the electronics to work,” Lt. Carroll said.
Another team from West Branch, Knox and his partner Trooper Kyle Rettell, demonstrated how they track for narcotics.
“One team member will set up a track for another team member to test their abilities and to make sure the dog and canine handlers stay on top of their game,” Lt. Carroll said.
While this marked the first canine training media day, these teams have to be consistent with their training and teams meet every week.
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