The First Responders Club held a K9 demonstration performed by the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday.
Officer Fred Rivera, who has been on the force for 24 years and has worked with K9s for 16, gave a short speech and a question and answer session before bringing 11-year-old Sirus in for demonstration.
Sirus, a pure-bred Belgian Malinois, is a bomb-sniffing pro who spends his days catching criminals and his nights with Rivera’s family.
All the expenses of Sirus’ care are taken care of by the force. While he does go home with Rivera every night, costs of things like vet visits and food are covered until his very last day.
Almost all of the force’s canines come from Europe, the reasoning being that they are bred cleanly and not mixed there.
“Everyone in Europe, they use dogs for sport, hunting, competition, etc. So we take that drive and that desire that these dogs are made to have and use it to our advantage for policing,” Rivera said. “We instill that obedience, that working drive and we use German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois because they’re built to be… working dogs.”
Before Sirus, Rivera had a German Shepherd that had to be put down after eight years of work due to his failing hips. He indicated that this is why Belgian Malinois are much more popular in recent law enforcement.
Female dogs are also being implemented more often. “We didn’t want mixing for a while,” Rivera admitted. “The male dogs, they start sniffing and wondering what’s going on… but we now have disciplined the dogs better.”
The dogs begin their training at 14 months. Obedience is their most important quality, and trainers will use food rewards as their main approach. “We find that with the dogs, if you keep up [the] food reward [and] proper drive, dogs… will work.”
Upon bringing Sirus out, he began sniffing Rivera’s pockets. “He thinks I have a pocket full of cookies because anytime we come into demos, I always got a pocket full,” showcasing not only the food reward training but his sniffing skills.
Rivera also uses an electronic collar, clarifying “God forbid something happens… we’re out on a job and… I don’t have him on leash, I can always give him a little bit of stim and he’ll come right back.” It only takes a small vibration to let Sirus know when to retreat.
The duo heads to all of the county’s biggest events to check for bombs. The demo was fairly quick because the two had to head off to a rally at a nearby Jewish community center. He is typically at parties, parades and schools.
The most interesting part about Sirus in particular was that he only knows French commands. For example, saying “siéger” would cause him to sit and “poser” would cause him to lay.
All the expenses of Sirus’ care are taken care of by the force. While he does go home with Rivera every night, costs of things like vet visits and food are covered until his very last day. In 20 months, Rivera will retire with Sirus at his side.
“People ask what we do with the dogs. We take the dogs home, we have families. I got a family, two daughters and a wife. That dog comes home with me.”
ajones11@ramapo.edu
Featured photo by Amanda Jones
