K-9 Demonstration

I went to the downtown library today to see Bellingham Police Officer Shan Hannon give a demonstration of how the K-9 unit works. He was assisted by canine officers Celina, a Belgian Malinois, and Max, a German Shepherd (Alsatian in UK-speak).

Celina specializes in searching for many kinds of things, such as guns, drugs, and explosives and quickly found several objects that been hidden before she came into the room. She knew there was something up there, but needed a little help to get close it.

Max is more interested in pursuing and detaining the bad guys, and showed off his skills outside on the lawn. He appeared to be very good at the detaining.

There were about a hundred people in attendance. I arrived early to get a good seat, but chose instead to sit on the floor up front. It was a very interesting talk and demonstration and Officer Hannon answered many questions. At the end of the session, he brought Celina back for some attention from the children in the audience -- see more photos here.