“He’s the most popular employee”: Boulder County recruits two new dogs in sheriff’s and DA’s offices

Two dogs are among the newest government employees of Boulder County.

Ares, a 1½-year-old German Shepherd, is the newest K-9 recruit of the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office and Marlow, a 2-year-old golden retriever lab mix, is the most recent furry friend to be hired by the District Attorney’s office to help in victim services.

While the two dogs could not be more different in their jobs, they reflect the continued presence of K-9 support in law enforcement agencies.

‘He’s very good at comforting people’

Ares, who is currently going through the academy, is being trained for certification in patrol and narcotics detection. Meanwhile, Marlow helps victims and children feel more comfortable during trial proceedings.

“This building is a scary place, it’s got people a victim or witness don’t know, and people in suits who are going to be asking all these really tough questions about stuff they really don’t want to talk about if they had a choice, ” said Chris Merkle, a senior investigator at the DA’s Office. “Just to see the impact, these dogs can just take that edge off.”

Merkle’s work involves investigating cases in preparation for trial. Each investigation includes interviewing witnesses, victims and responders as to what they saw during the incident.

“We meet with them right before trial, kind of give them the logistics of trial and where and when they should show up. That’s often when Marlow is involved,” Merkle said. “A lot of times when you’re talking about the crime again and in the court, it brings up a lot of anxiety. He’s very good at comforting people.”

Marlow, who has been with the office since April, is from the Canine Companion For Independence organization which provides “service dogs to adults, children and veterans with disabilities and facility dogs to professionals working in healthcare, criminal justice and educational settings,” according to its website. Their dogs are of no cost to the clients.

Merkle said Marlow was trained when they began working. But to ensure Marlow stays up to date on his training, they spend about five-to-10 minutes a day, reviewing.

Marlow’s responsibilities involve calming people down, bringing smiles to people’s faces and even dropping a tissue box in their laps if they need it.

The pup is trained to respond to both English and Spanish, and has the ability to open drawers, “boop” people to alert them, and rest his upper body or chin on someone to calm them. Marlow can also jump on furniture if needed, only barks on command and only goes to the bathroom when told to.

Ares will work on the other side of the system, by being used to track suspects, reprimand suspects through bites and find narcotics.

Ares first met his handler, Boulder County Deputy Richard Hart, in early August after being picked up from Vohne Liche Kennels, based in Indiana.

Since then, the two have bonded in training sessions prior to starting the academy in October. Hart’s plan in that they will graduate and become certified in patrol and narcotics detection.

“We’ve had a couple months now to really build a foundation of obedience. So we’ve been going to weekly trainings with our unit, our internal unit here at the sheriff’s office,” Hart said. “I’ve learned a lot of obedience and other basic commands, I’ve gotten a lot of exposure, environmental exposure, and that really gave us a good foundation to start the academy. So even though we’ve only been there a week, we’re pretty far along.”

Given that a number of other agencies within the county don’t have K-9 units themselves, Hart said he and Ares will be called to assist other agencies on scene. Hart is also a part of the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force which tracks “violent fugitives.” Ares will be used there, as well.

The two will also need to remain on call, as they could be needed at any time.

‘if I were to send him on a bite, I have to be able to recall him.’

The two K-9s also have very different home lives. At home, Ares sleeps outside in an insulated kennel, provided by the sheriff’s office, to keep him from confusing his work life and home life.

“I can’t bring him inside really, and there’s reasons,” Hart said. “When we do our training exercises and we go into an empty building or something and we’ll have a decoy suspect, I need him to be comfortable jumping over furniture, jumping on the counters, pushing doors open — things you don’t want him to do in your own home. If I were to bring him in my house and tell him no or correct him for doing that, then that can pour over into training.”

Despite Ares not sharing a home with his handler, the pair share the rest of their time together. Hart feeds, walks, plays and trains Ares to ensure they build a bond that will transfer into the workplace.

“He has to really only understand me,” Hart said. “He takes orders from me, he gets his food from me, his water, I’m the provider of everything. He tends to ignore other people, including my family. He is hyper-focused on me — which is good for the training bonding.”

Hart said while on scene he is the one to decide whether to release Ares for a bite and has to ensure that if he lets Ares go, he will bite the correct person. Hart added that if Ares were to be released and then the suspect were to start complying, Hart has to be able to stop Ares from pursuing.

“You have to be able to demonstrate verbal recall and a verbal out with your dog,” Hart said. “Right now, I have control of him on the leash, but if I were to send him on a bite, I have to be able to recall him.”

Meanwhile, Marlow has a similar home life to most dogs but still does everything with Merkle, including walking a mile-and-a-half each morning at 4 a.m. before eating breakfast, getting dressed for work and making the commute, in.

“He’s spoiled like any other dog because he’s so well-behaved,” Merkle said. “He is just such a good boy and he loves to lay in the sun.”

‘He’s the most popular employee’

In the DA’s Office, Marlow is always near one of his many balls or toys that he treasures and often plays within the courtyard. When indoors, he can be found resting in his dog bed in Merkle’s office, where people often stop by to visit.

“Marlow has no shortage of visitors that come by and want to say hi,” Merkle said. “He’s the most popular employee.”

In contrast, Ares hangs out in the spacious kennel in the back of Hart’s patrol car, which stays running throughout the day. Ares always has a bed and water in the kennel and gets taken out for walks and training during the day.

Hart explained that if the patrol car’s air somehow gets turned off, the car will automatically roll the windows down and turn on fans inside the vehicle. Hart also has a device that will tell him the temperature inside the vehicle.

The manufacturer also considered the possibility of someone attempting to steal the running vehicle. Hart explained that if someone without the key tries to open the door, the patrol car will turn off immediately.

The sheriff’s office hopes to get another K-9 toward the start of next year.

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