The Village School gets Florida’s first campus K-9

The Village School of Naples has become one of only three schools in the U.S., and the first in Florida, with a K-9 on campus.

Thanks to a company called Skool Dogs, which trains dogs specifically to operate on school grounds, Colby has become the newest employee of The Village School, paired with school resource officer Daniel Bledsoe.

“She detects firearms and ammunition, gunpowder, black powder as well,” Bledsoe said.

Adorable as she may be, Colby is the fastest response to an active shooter situation.

“She is incredible,” Bledsoe said. “The sense of smell five times more than the human’s, and her hearing… just that presence.”

When put to the test using an orange cloth rubbed with gunpowder and hidden in a school locker, Colby was quickly able to sniff it out, sit and show her partner something was not right.

While she may prove a distraction to students, staff consider her a welcome addition to campus.

“Safety is our top priority, and to have the opportunity to be able to add Officer Colby to our security team was something we couldn’t pass up,” said Dennis Chapman, head of The Village School.

The Village School was able to acquire Colby from Skool Dogs thanks to an anonymous donation.