Lake Mead rec area gets patrol dog

By Dave Clark

Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008 | midnight

Lake Mead National Recreation Area has become the second national park to get a police dog on the Park Service force, trained to sniff out illegal drugs and missing persons.

Ranger Todd Austin began training with German shepherd Onyx in May. The two graduated in July.

"With the types and frequency of law enforcement incidents that we've been dealing with historically, we decided that a K-9 would help assist us in locating evidence, specifically illegal drugs and locate suspects that are hiding from us," Austin said. "It will save our officers time."

Fleeing suspects often take vehicles or burglarize vacation trailers or a Park Service building.

Austin hoped the use of dogs by national parks becomes more widespread. So far, the only other park using a dog is California's Sequoia, which employs a dog to find marijuana being grown illegally on public land.

Onyx has been tested and certified for sniffing out four types of drugs — marijuana, heroine, cocaine and methamphetamines.

So far, Austin said, the dog has discovered evidence in 15 cases. He has also prevented rangers from tracking missing people on the wrong path.

"Where he's really come into play is searching buildings where we have alarms," Austin said. "He's saved an enormous amount of time and kept officers out of harm's way."

Onyx, a 2 1/2-year-old, fully-trained dog from Eindhoven, Holland, arrived after Austin wrote a proposal to obtain $15,000 in funding for the dog through the Southern Nevada Agency Partnership Law Enforcement Task Force.

Austin and Onyx attended five weeks of training in California, then another five weeks of field training.

"I was learning how to recognize his changes in behavior — when he alerts to the presence of illegal drugs or alerts to a person in a concealed location," Austin said. "He and I were living in a hotel room for five weeks together, spending 24 hours a day with each other."

Austin learned how to care for the dog and treat potential injuries, as well as mastering more than 20 commands in German, Onyx's native tongue.

"I had to use the same intensity and tone as he was trained with in Holland," Austin said.

Onyx is trained to bark and alert others to the presence of those hiding in buildings and will bite them if he finds them. When tracking missing persons, the dog is kept on a short leash, so he does not have the ability to bite, Austin said.

Onyx can also provide traditional backup for Austin should he be assaulted. A button on his belt opens the police car door and lets Onyx come protect his human partner.

Onyx lives with Austin and works in a specially equipped Ford Expedition, which features a temperature monitoring system. It directs cold air to Onyx's kennel and blasts an alarm when the inside temperature becomes too hot.

"It would send a special signal to me, honk the horn, flash the lights, drop its windows and turn on the cooling fan," Austin said.

He called the addition of a dog to his home very rewarding.

"I'm quite astonished at how driven these dogs are to please their handler," Austin said. "All he wants to do is work."

Onyx gets excited when Austin brings out his work collar, and will sit by the front door, waiting.

"He has such a high drive," Austin said. "He keeps me going."

Dave Clark can be reached at 990-2677 or [email protected].