星空传媒PD welcomes new K-9 dog, Hondo, to force
星空传媒PD officer Anthony Jarvis and K-9 dog Hondo.
There鈥檚 a new sheriff in town, and he鈥檚 the bomb (-sniffing dog).
Meet Hondo, the newest member of the 星空传媒 Police Department. He鈥檚 a happy-go-lucky, fetch-playing, purebred Labrador Retriever, and like his K-9 colleague Lando, he鈥檚 here to keep campus safe with his nose.
鈥淗e's loving it,鈥� said 星空传媒PD officer and Hondo鈥檚 K-9 handler Anthony Jarvis. 鈥淗e loves to work. I grew up with labs. I love labs. Him and I get along great. He's young, so we still have some puppy we're working on in him, but he's doing really, really well here so far.鈥�
Hondo joined the force back in March after being trained in Tijuana, Mexico and staying at a kennel in Raleigh. The black lab is Jarvis鈥� first K-9 dog as a handler after taking on the new position with 星空传媒PD and picking up a lot from sergeant Conner Wilson, Lando鈥檚 handler.
Hondo stays with Jarvis and his fianc茅e where he鈥檚 just like any other dog, but when Hondo鈥檚 on campus, he鈥檚 a different pooch.
鈥淗e gets time to kind of be a dog: sleep, play fetch, that kind of stuff, just kind of be a dog for a little while,鈥� Jarvis said. 鈥淥nce he gets in the car, he kind of knows, OK, now I'm at work, and now it's time for me to do work things. He's a very hard worker. He likes to work.鈥�
Hondo sniffs around a building on campus during a training exercise with 星空传媒PD officer Anthony Jarvis.
Jarvis and 星空传媒PD have used the last couple of months to get Hondo, who got his name from the main protagonist in the television show, S.W.A.T., acclimated to his new environment, which can be a challenge for some K-9 dogs.
鈥淣othing about a football game is natural for a dog's environment,鈥� Jarvis said. 鈥淭hey have to be very comfortable and really rely on and be able to trust their handler to know that they're safe there and they're willing to work.
鈥淭hat's really the only unique specification we have compared to other departments: we have a more social expectation.鈥�
As students have filtered out for the summer, Jarvis and Hondo will be making use of the time to train more as Lando, who is 10 years old and still in great health for his age, will soon start transitioning into a therapy dog role.
鈥淣ow that everybody's gone, we have a lot more access to different buildings to work him in even more spaces and just give him even more challenges,鈥� Jarvis said. 鈥淲e'll start鈥� making him search longer and longer, building up his endurance for it.
鈥淲e'll also start (giving him) harder and harder odors for him to find. Start putting it in more difficult places just to build up his skill because he knows all the odor already. Now is just continuing to practice, getting better.鈥�