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Franklin County Sheriffs Deputy and his K9 Partner Visit Squadron

Sgt Wells & K9 Ollie
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Sgt Wells talks about being a K9 Cop. Photo credit: 2d Lt Mary Toebes, Franklin County Composite Squadron Assistant Public Affairs Officer, (click image to view full size)
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Visit from a K-9

By 2nd Lt. Mary Toebes
Assistant Public Affairs Officer

5/25/2016–Louisburg, NC–Franklin County Composite Squadron members attending the, May 16, unit’s drug demand reduction class got a special treat. Sgt Wells, from the Franklin County Sheriff’s department, brought his K-9 partner, Oliie.

Ollie is trained to help sniff out drugs and assist in search and rescue calls. The search and rescue calls could be calls to search for criminals or missing persons He follows commands given in Dutch so the criminals can not confuse him. The dog responds by voice recognition too along with speaking in Dutch. That means if Sgt Wells has a cold Ollie might not respond to commands.

Sgt Wells demonstrated some of Ollie’s commands. He commanded Ollie to lay which is a command Ollie does not like, but he follows. Heel to the left was also demonstrated. Sgt Wells, Then explained that if he had been left handed Ollie would have been trained heel to the right. That way the dog is on the opposite side from the officer’s weapon.

Sgt Wells said his office only has 2 K-9s and that some of the neighboring offices only have 1 K-9 each. That means that the dogs and their handlers are on call all the time. Sgt Wells also passed around Ollie’s vest so the cadets could get a good look at. The vest is bullet proof. Sgt Wells also wears a beeper that lets him know if the vehicle gets to hot for Ollie. The vehicle is also set up so the lights and siren will be on until he gets out there to help cool things down for the dog.

When talking about the class C/1stLt Susane Toebes said, “It was pretty fun watching the cadets interact and ask questions with the police officers.” Then C/1stLt Gladys Toebes added, “It was interesting.”  Several other cadets commented on how much they enjoyed having the police come out with their K9 dog.