Three months ago, Bailey was an unwanted dog who was running out of chances to find a home. Today, she is the newest member of the Valley County Sheriff’s Office.
Bailey, a 4-year-old black lab mix, was certified on January 10 as a drug detection dog by the Idaho Peace Officer Standards and Training Academy in Meridian.
The certification came alongside Deputy Russell Hodges, who works as Bailey’s partner in Valley County’s first K9 unit since 2007.
“It’s really, really cool to watch them work as a team, because he picks up on her, she picks up on him,” Valley County Sheriff Kevin Copperi said. “They became one unit.”
Adoption
Bailey was found at the Idaho Humane Society in Boise in October by Hodges and Valley County Sgt. Jason Piccola, who led Ada County’s K9 program for more than 20 years.
Hodges and Piccola bounced a ball while walking up and down aisles of kenneled dogs to gauge which dogs have traits that could make them a good fit for training as a drug dog. Bailey was the clear winner.
“She was super confident, ignored all the barking of other dogs, immediately approached us, was wagging her tail, and would not take her eye off the ball,” Hodges said. “Those are all good characteristics that you look for when you’re trying to get a certified dog.”
As a 4-year-old dog who had been re-homed multiple times, Bailey’s future was uncertain, at best, until her recruitment by the sheriff’s office.
Hodges believes the same “high drive” that made Bailey ideal for the sheriff’s office led previous owners to feel she was poorly behaved and unfit for homes.
“People mistake it as like, ‘oh, that dog is crazy,’” he said.
Training
After adopting Bailey, Hodges spent two weeks earning her trust and assimilating her into her new life with Hodges’ wife, children, and two German shepherds.
Then, with the help of a ball, Hodges trained Bailey to find hidden drugs and studied the nuances of her behavior when she detected them. After 260 hours of training were completed, they were eligible for certification testing, which in Idaho requires 100% accuracy to pass.
On testing day, Bailey tracked down drugs in an open field, in vehicles, inside rooms, and in boxes. Each setup included blanks and required Hodges to correctly identify when Bailey found drugs and when she did not.
“You have to catch it,” he said. “You have to notice that change of behavior.”
For Bailey, that change is marked by her body tensing up, her ears going from floppy to stiff, and emphatic tail-wagging, among other things.
Tight bond
Copperi is confident the K9 program will be a success, mainly because of the tight bond between Hodges and Bailey.
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“The guy absolutely glows when that dog is around, and that’s what it takes,” he said. “In three months, to have a bond like that…Not everybody can do that.”
Bailey lives with Hodges and works as his partner on every shift, but the pair can also be called in when off-duty to perform drug searches as needed, including for other local law enforcement agencies.
Traffic stops, probation checks, and searches of schools and jails are among the uses Copperi sees for Bailey, who is trained to find marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin.
Two Chevy Tahoes that are equipped with a kennel and safety features were donated by the Ada County Sheriff’s Office to get Valley County’s K9 program up and running, Copperi said.
Community ‘icebreaker’
Copperi also thinks Bailey will be a valuable “icebreaker” that helps strengthen the sheriff’s office’s community relationships.
“People come up to the dog, but they start talking to Deputy Hodges, and pretty soon they realize this is just a guy who has a job,” Copperi said. “It starts breaking down that barrier where people are kind of afraid to come talk to you because you’re in this badge.”
That dynamic is especially important in schools, Copperi said, noting that Bailey quickly became a student favorite on her first visit to Cascade Schools.
Bailey, meanwhile, loves the attention.
“Whenever she goes to basketball games, she wants all the attention,” Hodges said. “She gets frustrated and it’s like, ‘why are these kids playing with the ball? I’m here, why isn’t anyone paying attention to me.’”
“I’m just excited for what the future is gonna bring,” he said. “Every day is an endless adventure with that dog.”
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story had incorrect details about the animal shelter involved and its euthanization policies.
