Six K-9 officers patrol Douglas County streets

In the past year, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office has added two more K-9 units to its patrols, bringing the total number of K-9's who tag along with deputies to six.  

One of them is on duty around-the-clock.

"Scooter" has been on the streets for quite some time and is involved in just about every type of call alongside Officer Brad Proulx.

“We can search anybody or will sniff the car of everybody, we’ll do even a soccer mom sometimes just to let the dog know that not every car has drugs in it,” said Proulx.  “What the dog’s searching for is the odor of the drug, he’s not actually looking for the hard drug like the marijuana or cocaine or whatever, he’s looking for the odor.”

The duo has been busy. In September alone, Scooter sniffed out nearly $250,000 in drug money that was being used to purchase drugs in Colorado and transport to other states.

Last month, two K-9’s helped nab 50 pounds of marijuana in two separate stops.

When riding in the cruiser, Scooter is constantly spinning around in the back and trying to look out the side windows. It’s clear there are few places he’d rather be than at work.

“In the car, he will spin around non-stop because he's just so excited to go work, he knows we're going to do something that requires him to work,” said Proulx.

The K-9's come at no cost to the agency because they’re all donated from a local kennel. They also live with their handlers and once retired, their handlers are able to buy them for $1 dollar, so the two never have to part ways.