Have You Met Ruger, Fairfield Police Dog?

Imagine that you just started a new job, and the first task assigned to you was .

first day on the job at the in November was exactly that.

Since that first day in the field, Ruger has been on 27 calls, including seven narcotics-related arrests, three burglary crime scenes, and numerous traffic stops, according department spokesperson Sgt. Sue Lussier.

He’s searched town hall and local municipal buildings, and was part of a regional team of dogs that searched in Stratford for narcotics, Lussier said.

Before Ruger could begin his work with the department, the almost-two-year-old German Shepard underwent nine weeks of formal training in tracking, narcotics detection, and patrol techniques, according to Lussier.

Ruger and his handler, Officer Kevin Wells, had to achieve several certifications, including the North American Work Dog Association certification and the National Police Canine Association certification.

Ruger is trained to track humans (i.e. missing person, a suspect), marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and meth, according to Wells. He can also track ecstasy and crack.

The department’s K-9 unit is fully funded by donations. Lussier said the program’s cost was determined for five years, the average working life of a police dog, though a healthy dog could continue working past five years. that cost to be roughly $15,758, though unknown veterinarian costs and ongoing training could increase that projection.

Ruger and Wells continue to train weekly with K-9 officers and their handlers in Norwalk and hope to train with the K-9 unit in Stamford, Lussier said.

On a daily basis, Wells works with Ruger to perfect his tracking in buildings, wooded areas, and fields, Lussier said.

Ruger and Wells are certainly busy. In fact, Ruger is basically handling a job meant for three dogs.

Lussier said that when forming the program, experts determined that the Fairfield Police Department could use up to three police dogs. The size of the department, the number of shifts, the volume of calls, the amount of downtime a service dog needs, and that there is enough activity to keep several dogs active, healthy, and trained, all factored into that claim.

Whether or not the department will begin to seek another dog or two is yet to be determined.