Dog days (and nights) of summer

BULLHEAD CITY – Ah, a dog’s life.

Most humans would relish being able to live a dogs life: sleeping, eating and playing all day.

But there are a few dogs that perhaps people would not like to trade lives with. Bingo and Kaia are police K-9 units. They perform difficult and often dangerous tasks that police officers do, and frequently can perform additional duties that officers can’t.

Officers Jill Menard and Eric Clevinger are assigned to the K-9 unit for the Bullhead City police department. Menard is Kaia’s trainer and handler and Clevinger is responsible for Bingo.

The dogs are part of Menard’s and Clevinger’s families; they live with their trainers and they travel to and from work together.

Both Bingo and Kaia are Belgian Malinois. The breed is slightly smaller than a German Shepherd, have less fur and have a longer snout. Kaia, 3, is approximately 70 pounds and Bingo around 50 pounds. Bingo is the senior dog on the force and is 6 years old.

Clevinger said Bingo is on a special diet for senior dogs.

“I recently put him on a food with glucosamine and chondrotin in it,” he said.

Clevinger had to retire his last police dog, Rocky, due to arthritis and wants to make sure Bingo doesn’t suffer the same affliction.

Working dogs eat a diet that is high in calories so that they have enough calories to burn off while they are on patrol.

On patrol

Bingo was on patrol Friday night. His job is a support role, Clevinger said.

“He is an extra tool for the department,” Clevinger explained. “He has a special function in supporting officers with their investigations.”

Friday, Bingo’s first call was to Lazy Harry’s, where he supported the officers as they questioned witnesses to a reported brawl between two Hispanic males and a group of Hells Angels. Bingo was able to get out of the car and assist Clevinger with crowd control. He supported officers by being on the lookout for suspicious activity and was ready to defend Clevinger and the other officers if need be.

His second call was to Laughlin Ranch to check for suspicious activity in a house that had the garage left open. Bingo and Clevinger went in to check for any prowlers; fortunately, Bingo gave the all clear.

When Bingo does not have his own assignment, he can be called out by other officers who need his assistance. Bingo and Kaia are trained to sniff out illegal drugs of all kinds, so they assist with vehicle searches and search warrants.

Additionally, they are trained to hunt down perpetrators.

Training

Both dogs participate in a regular training regimen. Twice a month the dogs work on fine-tuning their skills, both sniffing out drugs and searching for people.

During training, the dogs perform the same duties that they would in a real situation.

“To them, work is play, so it’s important to take their training just as seriously as we would when they are working,” Clevinger said.

Every time the dogs get in the car they know they are going to work and are prepared for any situation that might arise.

Cars

The police cruisers that Clevinger and Menard drive are specially equipped to transport the dogs. The backseat of each cruiser is equipped with a traveling spot for the dog. The backseat has been taken out and replaced with a non-slip mat that the dogs can stand or lay on.

The panels of both doors are gone, replaced with solid steel panels. The doors are on a remote switch system, so if Menard or Clevinger were in danger they could activate a switch and the doors would open, allowing the dogs to come to their rescue.

Perhaps most importantly the cars are fully equipped with a separate air vents to keep the dogs cool as well as fans in the backseat.

“People sometimes get mad at us for having the dogs in the car,” Menard said. “Then we have to explain that the dogs are in no danger of overheating.”

In addition to the climate control mechanism, the cars are equipped with an automatic alarm system should it get too hot inside. The sensors will automatically roll the windows down and will alert Menard and Clevinger that the car is too hot.

The cars are always running when the dogs are inside allowing all of the systems to work.

“It’s important to know that the dogs are not mistreated, they aren’t being left alone in a hot car,” Clevinger said. “Both Jill and I are animal lovers and we would never put our dogs in that situation.”

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