Arlo, a black German shepherd, is the latest addition to the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO) K-9 team.
Arlo was only 5 weeks old when local homebuilder Trinity Custom Homes donated him to the sheriff’s office. By the time he was 10 months old, he’d already been trained and certified in such areas of police work as narcotics detection (including meth, cocaine and heroin) and human scent tracking.
“We greatly appreciate this tremendous donation by the Bobak family. Many people do not realize the expense involved in having a K-9 program, especially the upfront cost of the dogs themselves,” said Sheriff Stacy Nicholson.
There are two other dogs currently on the GCSO K-9 team, Milo and Novak, both Belgian Malinoises. Novak has been with the department since 2017 and Milo since 2019.
Both German shepherds and Belgian Malinoises are often trained as police dogs because of their intelligence, quickness to training, keen sense of smell and strong protection instincts.
Last year, all three GCSO dogs and their handlers participated in the 12th annual South Georgia K-9 Seminar, which offered a series of scenario-based training exercises for both police K-9s and K-9 handlers.
The three local K-9s normally receive a minimum 17 hours of training per month and may accompany their handlers in serving search and arrest warrants, detecting illegal drugs or searching for missing persons.
There are currently four Gilmer County deputies trained as K-9 handlers. Arlo has been assigned to Sgt. Blue Patterson.
“Arlo is a great asset and partner due to his ability to help locate illegal narcotics and track criminals, as well as elderly (persons) and children,” said Patterson.
“He is an exceptional dog, and there is no doubt that Gilmer County will benefit from Arlo’s performance,” said Nicholson.