Wellington County OPP Constable Barry Reid has been on the force’s canine unit for the past 11 years.
It’s a position he finds “enjoyable and challenging,” he said.
This year the 19-year OPP veteran has two new dogs, Jag and Knox, under his care.
It’s evident Reid still finds it difficult to talk about the loss of his previous dog, Derrick, killed in January after being struck by a vehicle.
Knox is a six-year-old German shepherd that has been trained as a general service dog. He will be utilized for tracking wanted suspects, searching for lost and missing people, building searches, apprehensions, evidence searches and public order.
Jag is a six-year-old black Labrador retriever that is trained as a narcotics detector dog. He is trained to find nine types of illicit drugs, as well as firearms.
Both dogs have been trained by the OPP, with Jag coming from a police handler in Ottawa and Knox coming from Kingston police. It was only circumstane that led both dogs to end up with Reid earlier this year.
“It was just a timing issue,” Reid told the Advertiser.
Wellington County OPP have had a dedicated canine team since 2003.
Knox and Jag, the third and fourth dogs to serve the county, will be involved with community service work and public demonstrations.
The provincial OPP canine unit was originally formed in 1965, with three dogs being trained in Mount Forest. The unit currently consists of 27 teams deployed strategically throughout the province.
Canine teams undergo 16 weeks of intensive training at the OPP Academy Canine Training Centre. The training includes promoting obedience, exposing the dogs to obstacles such as stairways, heights, ladders, tunnels and water.
Each dog lives at the handler’s home and stays in an outside kennel provided by the OPP. This develops a proper heavy undercoat that will protect the dog during cold weather assignments.
Reid said Jag and Knox are only brought into the home on extremely cold nights, something that happened this winter. Otherwise they have their kennel and “nice apartments,” Reid said of the dog houses.
“They’re with us 24-7,” he said. “They’re outside year round except on those really cold nights.”
With the dogs already trained, it was easier to have both, the officer added.
Reid and his dogs are required to refresh their training every six weeks at an OPP facility in Gravenhurst.
The officer said his interest in the canine unit came during his time in emergency response, where officers often work closely with the canine unit.
“I’m responsible for Wellington County,” Reid said, though he can be called out of the county to assist police in other jurisdictions.
Most dogs are retired by the age of 10, but Reid said, “We’ll keep them working as long as they are healthy and motivated.”
