TULSA -- It takes a special breed of man's best friend to stand side by side with law enforcement and our military, and it just so happens that the trainers behind these fierce K9s are right here in Tulsa.
They may look cute, but these are pups you don't want to mess with.
These dogs are K9 officers in training. Some are imported from Holland or Belgium, and they come to Torch Light K9 facility in Tulsa.
"The K9 leads the way so we believe we do a very good job at what we do and some of the best in the country so that’s why we named it Torch Light," said Co-owner Ted Summers.
The dogs train anywhere between 8 to 20 weeks, depending on what they need to learn.
The scenarios include drug detection, car searches, sniffing out for explosives, and suspect apprehension.
"We scribed on here, this is pot, everything else is a blank, so we’re going to draw them to the pot box, we’re going to let them play tug in the pot box," said Co-owner Scott Tarpley.
The dogs are learning the marijuana scent at the same time.
"Over here, no odor, no ball, the ball disappears, so we’re teaching them passively the only time they get to play tug is when they’re in that odor," said Tarpley.
The nearly 40 K9s at Torch Light train at least five days a week. When they're ready, they could be sent to a local department, or anywhere in the country.
The trainers say these dogs are the best of the best.
"The analogy I always give is okay, how many kids did you know who played basketball in middle school, and they’re like tons, and I’m like, how many of those kids made it to the NBA?" said Summers.
The one quality these trainers say you need to work with these dogs, is patience.
Some of the dogs who don't have the drive or skill to become a police or military K9 go to families in Green Country.
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