Pubdate: Sun, 27 Mar 2005 Source: Lebanon Daily Record (MO) Copyright: 2005 Lebanon Daily Record Contact: http://www.lebanondailyrecord.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1461 Author: Edward J. Sisson SEARCH BEGINS FOR NEW POLICE DOG The search is on in and around Europe for a suitable German shepherd that eventually will become the Lebanon Police Department's new drug dog, Chief of Police Sam Mustard said this week. The department's German shepherd, Eiko, died suddenly Feb. 14 of complications from a fast-acting virus that shut down all of the vital organs of the 8-year-old animal. Eiko had been with the department since 1998 and had two handlers -- Officer Steve Cunningham, who left the department to join the Missouri State Highway Patrol -- and Sgt. Wayne Merritt, the dog's handler at the time of its death. A Lebanon couple, Ted and Dagmar Tittle, who said they were saddened to hear of Eiko's death, on March 2 presented the city with a check for $9,000 toward the purchase of a new K-9, which they said was important to the community in its fight against drugs -- in particular methamphetamine. The job of finding that new drug dog for the department is in the hands of veteran trainer Mike Ervin of Cape Girardeau who operates Riverview K-9. "He supplies all the dogs for the Missouri State Highway Patrol and he supplied Eiko. We were very pleased with Eiko," Mustard said. The total cost of the animal and the eight-week handler training course will be $9,300. Others agencies in this area using German shepherds provided by or trained by Ervin include the Lake Ozark and Rolla police departments and the Morgan County Sheriff's Department. Ervin's dogs also are used by the Kansas City Police Department street narcotics unit and interdiction squad and 27 other law-enforcement agencies in Missouri and Illinois. Training for German shepherd police dogs begin in breeder kennels throughout Europe when they are puppies. "They are partially trained over there (in Europe). Then, when the animal arrives in the states, (Ervin) works with the dog for a couple of weeks to make sure it's ready for its duties," Mustard said. Mustard said once the animal is cleared, Merritt, who remains the department's K-9 handler, will go to Cape Girardeau and train with the dog for eight weeks. The dog will be trained in the areas of obedience, tracking, handler protection, building and area searches, and criminal apprehension. In addition, the animal also will be trained to detect narcotics such as methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana and heroin. The time of arrival for the dog from the time it is ordered can be anywhere from three to four months based on weather -- the dogs can't be shipped during extreme cold weather conditions -- and the availability of the breed of animal ordered. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin