New K-9 deputy has a nose for trouble

BONNERS FERRY — The newest addition to the Boundary County Sheriff's Office has big brown eyes, loves people and can't wait to get to work each morning. 

Mika, the new K-9 partner of Cpl. Greg Reynolds, a school resource officer with the Boundary County Sheriff's Office, recently joined the department and is undergoing training. She joins a number of K-9 and courthouse dogs in Bonner and Boundary counties.

"She's just such an ice-breaker," Reynolds told the Herald. "When I walk into the school, the kids just flocked to her. ... They want to know when can they pet her and how long they can pet her." 

A recent visit to Mount Hall saw the elementary school students line the hallways as Reynolds and Mika made the rounds to give each student a chance to meet the K-9 and pet her. Smiles were everywhere. 

Reynolds said he knew right away that Mika would be the perfect fit.  

When he went to the Pacific Coast K-9 to meet potential candidates, the chocolate lab stood out  due to her friendly, happy personality but also her determination to work. 

"I got to run them through a couple of rooms and you just kind of see how they work and get to know their personality a little bit," Reynolds said. "I like both dogs but (Mika) just came right up to me and kind of jumped on me and gave me her paw." 

Mika was excited to meet him and it showed. 

"She just seemed to have a great personality and I appreciated how she was working very low-key but kind of gives a happy vibe," the sheriff's office corporal said.   

Like Buddy, BCSO's first K-9 and partner of Sgt. Mike Valenzuela, Mika is a single-purpose narcotics canine officer trained in searching for various narcotics such as heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana. 

With Reynolds serving as a school resource officer, Mika's friendly, people-oriented personality will fit right in.  

The BCSO K-9s are trained for passive alert, meaning they sit and wait to catch their handler's attention when they detect the presence of narcotics, BCSO officials said. 

When the sheriff's office applied for the grant, BNSF officials said they were pleased to fulfill the request and help the sheriff's office acquire its second K-9. 

"It's kind of a natural for the community," Vic Ahlf, general foreman for BNSF Spokane Subdivision, said. "We see such a benefit, and it just makes sense to support that for our local law enforcement in the areas where we operate." 

The addition of Mika will not only help the sheriff's office keep the community safe but also help it develop positive relationships with its residents, Boundary County Sheriff Dave Kramer said. 

"It's a win-win, especially where she'll be, with Cpl. Reynolds in the schools," Kramer said. "They're building relationships with the kids and helping keep the drugs out of our schools but just doubling what we can offer to the community through our canine program." 

It's exciting to essentially double BCSO's K-9 program, Valenzuela said. Not only do the canine officers help their human partners keep the community safer by detecting — and removing from circulation — dangerous narcotics, they also bring the various teams together. 

"Having the dogs, and now having two of them, we can do so many more things," the sergeant said. "It's huge for our agency and it's exciting to get another dog up here." 

Because each dog can only work so many hours in a given period, having two K-9 officers will help Boundary County be more effective but will also help partner agencies such as Idaho State Police, Border Patrol and the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho. 

Mika underwent initial training at Pacific Coast K-9, a privately owned training facility with more than 50 years of experience in narcotics, explosive and cadaver detection. 

BCSO officials said the K-9 comes to the department trained to detect narcotics odors. She will now undergo 160 hours of training with Reynolds to fine-tune her skills and to bond with her human partner. The "canine school" gives the pair time to learn how to read each other and adds additional training on how to maneuver through rooms, over fields and other potential obstacles. 

Once the pair complete the program and are certified, they will need to undergo annual recertification. 

While Mike and Reynolds will spend the majority of their time in local schools, the K-9 will be available to other agencies and on-call as the need arises, BCSO officials said. 

Dogs with high energy, intelligence and an acute sense of smell do well as drug dogs; and like Buddy, Mika is already showing signs of being a great K-9 officer, BCSO officials said. 

The addition of the department's second K-9 officer came about through a donation from BNSF Railway and a private citizen, who asked to remain anonymous. The funds allowed both the purchase of Mika, but all of the associated equipment to outfit a K-9 vehicle and give the chocolate lab the tools to do her job.

    Pictured, from left, are Boundary County Sheriff's Cpl. Greg Reynolds with his new K9 partner Mika; Vic Ahlf, general foreman for BNSF Spokane Subdivision; and BCSO Sgt. Mike Valenzuela and his K-9 partner Buddy.