Jake Has A Nose For Business

A dog’s nose is approximately forty-four times more sensitive than yours or mine. Additionally, while we might smell beef stew in the kitchen, your dog smells beef, carrots, pepper, peas, corn, and all of the other ingredients. The amazing ability of a dog’s nose has become a valuable tool for use in law enforcement.
We have known for years that dogs were valuable tools in tracking. Bloodhounds have resulted in the capture of many fleeing criminals and have saved lives of people lost in the wilderness. However, in the modern era of fighting crime, the use of the dog and his special abilities has been expanded beyond the tracking function. The key word today is "detection".
Dogs can be trained to "alert" to a wide variety of contraband and thus become valuable tools as the police forces search for illegal items. The U. S. Customs Service has developed a large canine element which is routinely used for search and detection of illegal drugs as well as many other illegal, smuggled items.
Local police agencies such as the Sheriff’s Department, ACI, and the Marianna Police Department have canine capabilities. These are traditionally used for search and rescue or in tracking fleeing felons.
Jake and Mike Guy work for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. Mike is the son of Herman and Vanessa Guy. He graduated from Marianna High School in 1995, Chipola College in 1997, and the Law Enforcement Academy in 1998. He then went to work as a Sheriff’s deputy, then Joined the Wildlife Commission in 2003. He now resides in Marianna with his wife Leigh and their nine month old daughter…..and Jake.
Jake is a two year old male black lab. He completed months of training and earned his badge one year ago. The Wildlife Commission has a slightly different approach to selection and training of their dogs and the handlers. The dogs are carefully selected for several innate desirable characteristics including aggressiveness, energy level, and retrieving response. The dogs then are put through a rigorous training program along with their handler. No pre-trained dogs purchased from contractor canine training schools are used.
In the canine corps for the Wildlife Commission the dogs are trained to alert on firearms, wildlife, fish, and human scent. Jake has been directly involved in over forty arrest during the past year of work. He and Mike are on call to assist any enforcement activity underway in an area that spans from Pensacola to Tallahassee.
Mike told of a recent case in Gadsden county where villains had robbed and shot some citizens and fled into the woods. The ACI bloodhounds tracked and found the culprits, but the guns they used were not found. Knowing that locating the guns were critical to conviction in the incident, Mike and Jake were summoned to the scene. They retraced the path the earlier chase had taken, and after traveling some distance Jake alerted to the guns which had been hidden under some brush. Jake had done his job well.
They travel in a specially equipped vehicle which contains a kennel enclosure and a special ventilation and temperature sensing system. If the temperature exceeds a set level, the vehicle’s cooling system and fans automatically turn on. If the temperature continues to rise above a second set level the horn begins to sound and lights begin to flash.
So if you see a Fish and Wildlife Expedition SUV on the road, give a friendly wave to Mike and Jake. They are on duty helping preserve our wildlife and increase public safety.