Chase, a new patrol dog with the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office, can be a little playful.
It’s natural – he’s only 13 months old, but he began his first day on the job today. He and his handler, LCSO Deputy Kenneth Black, recently completed a six-week intensive training course in Nashville, between Kinston and Raleigh.
“The dog knows what to do already,” Black said. “It’s really a bonding process with the dog, getting the dog to trust you so that when he works, he wants to work for you. It’s the same with throwing the ball with your dog in the yard. If you throw the ball, and the dog doesn’t like you, he’s not going to bring the ball back.”
He added, “It’s just six long weeks of being out and playing with the dog.”
Black said Chase specifically is trained in “article location, apprehension, handler protection and narcotics detection.”
LCSO Maj. Ryan Dawson said Chase was purchased with $14,000 of seized drug funds, which went to both the dog himself and the training process.
Black joined the LCSO in 2009 after serving in law enforcement in La Grange.
“My grandfather was a police officer, my uncle was a police officer – it’s kind of in the family blood, but always being around it, being involved in it,” Black said. “I was an Explorer from the time I was 13 to the time when I was 18. And it’s been one of the things that’s fascinated me ever since I was a kid.”
Explorers groups are teen service organizations with police departments.
Black’s grandfather also worked with dogs, albeit in Oklahoma City.
Black, another deputy and a lieutenant make up the K-9 unit at the LCSO, joined by Chase, fellow patrol dogs Narco and Smokey, and one bloodhound, Jury.
Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 and Wes.Wolfe@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports.
Name: Kenneth Black
Agency: Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office
Division: Patrol Division, K-9 Unit
Rank: Deputy
Graduated: Eastern Wayne High School, 1996