Police K9 unit dogs demonstrate skills in Cape Coral

The life of a police dog may be quite a mystery to most individuals. Many of these dogs were once abandoned and left without hope. Some people got the opportunity to witness just what it takes to become a police dog for canines, who partner with law enforcement and serve their community.

Police K9 unit dogs from across the state demonstrated what years of training transforms them into at a competition in Cape Coral Saturday benefiting soldiers overseas.

“A lot of people think that they come with baggage, and that they can’t do anything with rescue dogs,” said Michelle Delaney, founder of Big Cypress German Shepherd Rescue.

With a lot of training and attention, rescued dogs become rescuers themselves. Delaney works with a rescue dog turned police K9 named Thor.

“So we go out, and we look for missing persons,” Delaney said. “It makes it easier for the family to cope with what’s going on.”

For a person like Delaney, it can be tough, however. Delaney worked with canines for nearly 30 years as a firefighter in north Collier County.

“We would find a dog tied up to a gate pretty regularly,” Delaney said. “So we just ended up doing a 501(c) 3 for the German shepherd rescues, and we’ve housed over sixty shepherds last year.”

Once hopeless dogs, they are given a chance to have a purpose and are shown love and care.

“It’s just good to see all the training and all the work that we put in with them,” Delaney said.

Officer Chris Gugliotta with Cape Coral Police Department said dogs like Jax have come very far from previous points in their lives.

“He’s dual purpose, which means he has two jobs,” Gugliotta said. “He finds narcotics and people. There are just a lot of things that we could not do as humans that they can.”

Gugliotta said it’s simple what it takes to motivate these trained dogs to perform their jobs.

“Take the time and dedication, and just show the dog love and compassion,” Gugliotta said.