Chihuahua-Rat Terrier Mix To Be Used By Ohio Dept. To Sniff Out Pot
Meet Midge, A 7-Pound Police Dog!
GEAUGA COUNTY, Ohio, Sept. 7, 2006
(CBS/The Early Show) By Brian Dakss
Chihuahua, The New Police Dog? The profile of the typical police dog may be changing. As Dr. Debbye Turner reports, a Chihuahua-rat terrier mix is helping a sheriff in Ohio enforce drug laws.
A lawman’s best friend is a police dog, highly trained to find bombs, drugs, people who are lost, and more. But The Early Show resident veterinarian, Dr. Debbye Turner, says the profile of the typical police dog may be about to change.
German shepherds, Labrador retrievers and bloodhounds are the macho breeds that most police departments use in their K-9 units. But, says Turner, one innovative sheriff in the Midwest is trying out a new idea. He believes good police dog work can come in a small package.
A package named Midge, a 9-month-old, 7-pound Chihuahua-rat terrier mix, who’s in line to become what’s believed to be the world’s smallest drug-sniffing dog.
Midge is the brainchild — and pride and joy — of Sheriff Dan McClelland of Geauga County, Ohio, who admits Midge isn’t “your typical police dog, by any means.”
More typical would be Midge’s partner in crime-fighting, Brutus, a massive German shepherd.
So, why such a tiny police dog?
“The idea for a smaller drug dog came to me,” McClelland told Turner, “when I was watching our large dogs search car interiors, in particular, and you put a German shepherd — 120-, 125-pound dog — in the interior of a car, and you watch how hard it is for them to turn around.”
And McClelland admits Midge was an easy sell: “I’m the sheriff, so I just had to convince myself that this was an appropriate idea!”
McClelland began training Midge to sniff out marijuana when she was 3 months old. She is still learning, and not certified yet as an official K-9 police dog. But, Turner observed, her skills were obvious.
“We knew,” McClelland says, “that, with the type of dog she is and with her size, she was never going to do crowd control, and she’s not going to strike terror in the hearts of men, so (we decided to) make her a social dog.”
And a social dog she is, Turner says, loved by children, and just about everyone else who sees her.
McClellan says he’s confident that Midge is more than just a novelty and that she, and other little dogs, will grow to be a valuable member of law enforcement teams.
Says McClellan: “I believe there’s no reason why a small dog can’t be as effective as a big dog. She searches big rooms, like a big dog. Her advantage comes in going in small places. … I think we might be onto something.’
Midge is being trained as a so-called “single purpose” dog, specializing in sniffing out pot, unlike bigger dogs, such as Brutus, who are also used for crowd control and catching criminals.
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Smoky in a field blanket
Copyright (c) William A. Wynne
Smoky, a young adult Yorkie, was found in an abandoned foxhole in New Guinea in February of 1944. The GI who had discovered Smoky, to finance himself in a card game, sold her to Corporal William Wynne of Cleveland for two Australian pounds. Smoky served with Wynne from then until the end of the war. She flew photo reconnaissance missions, weathered a typhoon, survived kamikaze attacks, even made a parachute jump. She entertained troops in Special Service shows and in hospitals.
Her most noteworthy military accomplishment was in helping engineers construct at airbase in the Philippines. Responding to the commands and calls of Corporal Wynne, Smoky “snaked” vital phone wires through a 70-foot buried pipe only eight inches in diameter. Her feat averted the need to dig up the taxi strip to gain access to the pipe, a job estimated to take three days. The intrepid Smoky ran the crucial wiring in only two minutes.
Two memorials honoring Smoky can be seen in the Cleveland area.
Source: http://www.SmokyWarDog.com
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Old Harvey
Old Harvey was a white Bulldog who was a mascot of the 104th Ohio. He served with honor at the Battle of Franklin.
National Canine Research Council