The Long Arm Of The Law.

November 5, 2016

                                     

When Doug and I take Zuma into town we usually have our cell 'phones on us to keep in contact if we get separated.  If I lose track of those two, they're easy to locate because there's usually a crowd of friendly teenagers petting Zuma.  We met these great gals:

                           

A couple of days ago we were strolling around town.  It was November 3rd and 84 degrees (!).  We stopped with Zuma outside the old Woolworth's store.  I have a special fondness for this place as it still has the intact original soda fountain complete with old counter, bar stools and milkshake machines.  The rest of the store is an art gallery displaying works by local artists.

Outside on the sidewalk, there's dog-friendly seating with many a busker group performing out in front of the store. It's a fun place to hang out, meet people and dogs.  And snag a cold drink from the ice-filled vintage Coca Cola cooler.  So I grabbed some cold drinks and when I went outside Doug was chatting with these two lovely ladies.
                                  

Officer Raines and Officer Baker had walked over to pet Zuma and we visited for a while as they are both Doug lovers.  Oops, typo.  I meant Dog Lovers.  Officer Raines owns a Boxer and Officer Baker owns two mantle Great Danes! We had a great talk about dogs.  Being the nosey curious person that I am, I asked a lot of questions about Police Dogs because, well, I think they are the bravest and coolest working dogs ever.  They locate bombs, drugs, missing persons and they track down bad guys.

So, I asked the Officers about how the Police Dogs are trained and this is what I learned:

*  Nowadays, Police Dogs  are trained with the use of positive reinforcement only. 
*  That whole thing about Police Dogs lungeing at the end of the leash, snarling and frothing at the mouth when they are on the case is a thing of the past.  That's the old way.  So don't believe those drama scenes on tv, ya'll.
*When a Police Dog alerts to something, it is trained to SIT.

You're Welcome.

So, if you see a Police Dog sitting and staring at you, chances are, you've probably been up to something.  Just sayin'.

Well, I can take the rest of the day off, now.  I just wanted to let ya'll know what great people we met and what I learned. Personally, I think it would be a fantastic community thing to have Police Dogs (or their well-trained pets) accompany Officers. Excellent P.R.!  Then more people would get to meet Police Officers like these two special ladies.   

Thank you, Officer Raines and Officer Baker, for your service.  
Be Safe.