Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
Don't let her floppy ears and spotted tongue fool you. Behind her furry exterior, LC has the makings of a persistent, pot-sniffing drug dog.
But LC, a labrador retriever chow mix, wasn't always on the fast track to that crime-sniffing job. Less than a month ago, she was a stray wandering the streets of Lehigh Acres.
"The community helped her, and now she's helping the community," said Adam Leath, kennel operations manager at Lee County's Animal Services shelter.
On May 20, LC, who will be renamed by her handler when she finishes training, was found strolling down Lee Boulevard. She was brought to the Lee County Animal Services shelter by the wife of a Lee County sheriff's deputy, who believed the dog might do well as a drug dog for the sheriff's office.
LC's microchip prevented the shelter from giving her to the sheriff's office right away.
But after fruitless attempts to contact an owner, the shelter let Sgt. Frank Glover, who works with the sheriff's office's K-9 unit, take her out May 29 and test her skills, said Ria Brown, Animal Services spokeswoman.
The initial test of a possible drug dog consists of giving it a toy to play with, then hiding the toy and seeing if the dog hunts for it. LC not only hunted for it, but she did so for about 20 minutes, longer than dogs training for three months, Leath said.
"It's amazing to me because she was a shelter dog at this point," he said.
LC was then brought back to the shelter to await adoption by the sheriff's office.
While she was waiting, she caught a highly contagious upper respiratory virus that made her unadoptable.
The virus, a new strain of canine respiratory coronavirus, caused at least 35 dogs at the shelter to be euthanized in February.
Shelter staff put LC in a quarantined unit and gave her antibiotics to help her runny nose and cough.
"At this point, we were very upset because we'd put in a lot of time and energy," Leath said.
Within 14 days, LC was back to normal, and Glover adopted her and took her to his home June 17.
Now, LC does daily exercises to prepare her for her drug-sniffing duties. She will have to complete 10 weeks of training before she becomes the newest addition to the sheriff's office's 17 drug dogs.
Glover is teaching her to recognize the odor of marijuana by hiding it in a box along with a reward of a rolled-up towel.
Gradually, Glover will start separating the reward until LC searches for just the marijuana and indicates she has found the marijuana by sitting and staring at the box where she found it.
Right now, LC is still learning, Glover said, especially when it comes to the box.
"Sometimes she sits and sometimes she jumps up at it," he said.
Leath said LC's energy may not have made her a perfect house pet, but it apparently has made her a good drug dog.
"This dog would almost seem too much to handle," he said.
Glover said LC has been well behaved, even at home around his daughter.
"She's a sweet little dog," Glover said.
News Hawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: News-Press.com
Copyright: 2008 News-Press.net
Contact: news-press.com | Southwest Florida | The News-Press
Website: From stray canine to K-9; Dog saved from streets by Lee deputy
But LC, a labrador retriever chow mix, wasn't always on the fast track to that crime-sniffing job. Less than a month ago, she was a stray wandering the streets of Lehigh Acres.
"The community helped her, and now she's helping the community," said Adam Leath, kennel operations manager at Lee County's Animal Services shelter.
On May 20, LC, who will be renamed by her handler when she finishes training, was found strolling down Lee Boulevard. She was brought to the Lee County Animal Services shelter by the wife of a Lee County sheriff's deputy, who believed the dog might do well as a drug dog for the sheriff's office.
LC's microchip prevented the shelter from giving her to the sheriff's office right away.
But after fruitless attempts to contact an owner, the shelter let Sgt. Frank Glover, who works with the sheriff's office's K-9 unit, take her out May 29 and test her skills, said Ria Brown, Animal Services spokeswoman.
The initial test of a possible drug dog consists of giving it a toy to play with, then hiding the toy and seeing if the dog hunts for it. LC not only hunted for it, but she did so for about 20 minutes, longer than dogs training for three months, Leath said.
"It's amazing to me because she was a shelter dog at this point," he said.
LC was then brought back to the shelter to await adoption by the sheriff's office.
While she was waiting, she caught a highly contagious upper respiratory virus that made her unadoptable.
The virus, a new strain of canine respiratory coronavirus, caused at least 35 dogs at the shelter to be euthanized in February.
Shelter staff put LC in a quarantined unit and gave her antibiotics to help her runny nose and cough.
"At this point, we were very upset because we'd put in a lot of time and energy," Leath said.
Within 14 days, LC was back to normal, and Glover adopted her and took her to his home June 17.
Now, LC does daily exercises to prepare her for her drug-sniffing duties. She will have to complete 10 weeks of training before she becomes the newest addition to the sheriff's office's 17 drug dogs.
Glover is teaching her to recognize the odor of marijuana by hiding it in a box along with a reward of a rolled-up towel.
Gradually, Glover will start separating the reward until LC searches for just the marijuana and indicates she has found the marijuana by sitting and staring at the box where she found it.
Right now, LC is still learning, Glover said, especially when it comes to the box.
"Sometimes she sits and sometimes she jumps up at it," he said.
Leath said LC's energy may not have made her a perfect house pet, but it apparently has made her a good drug dog.
"This dog would almost seem too much to handle," he said.
Glover said LC has been well behaved, even at home around his daughter.
"She's a sweet little dog," Glover said.
News Hawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: News-Press.com
Copyright: 2008 News-Press.net
Contact: news-press.com | Southwest Florida | The News-Press
Website: From stray canine to K-9; Dog saved from streets by Lee deputy
That's great Jim...I love it...LMAO! 
