Onondaga County Sheriffs Add Two New K9 Team Members To Force

Dogs are so smart and it's amazing to see the things they are capable of. We're always impressed when we see police dogs, who dedicate a good portion of their lives to help their communities.

The Onondaga County Sheriff's Office is adding two K9 deputies to their staff, who will be a great resource for the force.

Searles, a 23-month-old Dutch Shepherd from Hungary, and Yello, a German Shepherd from Holland will graduate in a ceremony today - Thursday, June 17, at 11AM.

According to CNY Central, the two have undergone extensive training in a number of areas to prepare them for life on the K9 team. This includes patrol tracking, building searches, obedience, agility and officer protection training. After their graduation, the dogs will head to another training, starting a six-week course to gain their certification in narcotics and explosives detention.

Back in May, K9 Drago of the Onondaga County Sheriffs Office hung up his badge for retirement after seven years of service. Now, it's time for two newbies to take over.

We're excited to see the difference they make! Good luck!

Drago graduated from the Police Academy with his handler, Deputy Jeff Neal, back in 2014, when he was just 16-months-old. [Syracuse.com]

"The dogs' biggest aid for police work is their ability to use their nose to detect and locate a person, drugs or explosives," said Detective Jon Seeber.

Neal and Drago completed a total of 320 hours of training in the areas of patrol tracking, building searches, obedience, agility and officer protection.

He has made a large impact in our community from increasing community relations to deescalating high risk calls. He has kept his handler, Deputy Jeff Neal and many officers safe.

Hopefully he's living the dream in retirement.