Barnstable County Sheriff's Office breeding dogs for itself, other K9 units

Office takes creative leap forward in the world of K9 law enforcement

Man’s Cutest Friend -- Sheriff Jim Cummings gets re-acquainted with one of his nine new K9s in training.  This would be Pup #2.  Or is it 5?  Maybe 8? Image courtesy of the Barnstable Sheriff's Office.

The Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office, already among the state’s top police-dog trainers, has taken a creative leap forward in the world of K9 law enforcement.

It is now breeding as well as training the dogs, with nine Holland herder pups cavorting daily in their new home – a lean-to attached to an outbuilding on the grounds of the Barnstable County Correctional Facility in Bourne.  The dogs are two-months-old.

Sheriff James M. Cummings says the decision to breed came once he realized “the benefits far outweighed the costs.  The upfront and ongoing expenses will be more than met in a year or so when we start selling the dogs,” the Sheriff observes.

“What we’re establishing here is a pool of replacements, not only for our own K9 unit (currently four Holland herders and two black labs) but for other law enforcement agencies as well.  Of course they’ll have to pay for theirs.”

The litter’s parents, a 3-year-old mother and 10-year-old father, are working Holland herders already assigned to two of the Sheriff’s K9 deputies.  “Good blood lines,” he explains.

Nine is Enough – Three of nine Holland herder pups peer over the holding gate at their new home next to the Barnstable County Correctional Facility. One idea was to name them after a position-by-position, all-Red Sox team: Cy, Pudge, Jimmie, Bobby, Wade, Joe, Ted, Tris, and Dwight. But that idea was scrapped when the Sheriff’s Office was reminded the all-male roster did not fit with the litter’s precise gender mix. So the name search continues. Image courtesy of the Barnstable Sheriff's Office.

If sold now they would likely fetch about $1,000 apiece, says K9 supervisor Ken Ballinger -- who’s also the handler of the new pups’ father.  “But the plan is to hold onto them for another 10 months or so, training them all the while.  That should increase their value to somewhere in the $5,000 to $6,500 range.”

The ones not needed in-county at the Sheriff’s Office are already being sized up by the numerous New England law enforcement agencies that train under Ballinger.  “So for us,” he concludes, “I anticipate a seller’s market.  The buzz has already started.  It’s a tight fraternity [K9 handlers], and word of mouth travels fast.”

Building and maintaining the dogs’ home, meanwhile, is being done on short money.  Two deputies with carpentry skills traded side arms for hammers long enough to erect a clean yet Spartan structure (four runs and a whelping room).  Material was purchased with drug forfeiture money.  Deputies and even family members have devised a volunteer schedule to handle clean-up and feeding duties, assisted by K9 officers whenever they’re on shift.

As Cape communities struggle through tough budget times, meanwhile, the need for supplementary services has never been higher.  When Ballinger arrived a decade ago, annual K9 assistance calls were running below 100.  They topped 700 in each of the last two years and continue to climb.

On the day this news was announced, seven units (a handler and dog, working in tandem) had been dispatched during the previous 24 hours.  They included two to assist Dennis Police (at a break-in and a drug search); drug searches for police in Wareham, Sandwich, Barnstable, and Falmouth; and another Cape area drug hunt conducted for the DEA.  “That,” says Sheriff Cummings, “has becoming just another day around here.”

“Budgets for most Cape towns were too small to justify their own K9s – even before the hard times hit.  Now, with revenues scarcer than ever, their reliance on us for this crime-fighting tool is all the greater.” - Sheriff Cumming

As the Sheriff notes, “Budgets for most Cape towns were too small to justify their own K9s – even before the hard times hit.  Now, with revenues scarcer than ever, their reliance on us for this crime-fighting tool is all the greater.”

Law enforcement agencies that breed their own are few and far between, according to Ballinger.  “ATF (the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms) does it.  TSA (the federal Transportation Security Agency) does it.  After that, not so much.”

Successful breeding is a two-part proposition.  To begin with, the dogs need to be born healthy and with no disqualifying conditions.  Mission accomplished there, reports the Sheriff, with nine robust pups scampering about and ready to go.

Aptitude and temperament kick in next with most dogs trainable for some tasks but not others.  The more assertive and physically imposing dogs will be trained for patrol work.  “They’re the jack-of-all trades, the ones liable to fetch the highest price,” the Sheriff notes.

Those less aggressive by nature, the “get along to go along” members of the litter, will be trained as scent dogs.  And in an era of drug raids and anti-terror vigilance, there’s plenty of sniffing to be done.  The list starts with drugs (of varying odors), cadavers, bombs, and the human scent of a missing person or a fleeing felon.  Some dogs can even detect the residue from firearms as well as crime-scene odors that a skilled criminal technician could never detect.  A few are even trained to detect the plastic and metal scent of a cell phone.

The Sheriff’s new pups are also a cutting edge breed, with Holland herders fast becoming today’s dog of choice in canine circles.  Most resemble German shepherds with slightly smaller builds.  But looks can deceive because herders have more muscle and less body fat than shepherds.  Most are grayish and brindled with streaks of butterscotch or black.

If the program flourishes as officials hope, even inmates may one day get into the act.  “They learn culinary skills working in our kitchen,” the Sheriff noted.  “They become better craftsmen working on our inmate labor crews.  Why not show them the dos and don’ts of dog breeding?”

Concluded he: “If offenders can train new horses in detention camps out west, why couldn’t we do the same thing here with dogs?”

Why not, indeed.      

Courtesy of the Barnstable County Sheriff's Office.

Read "Dogs, humans, team up for K9 police work" by Samantha Pearsall.