KATIE MARTIRE/The GDH — Special Agent Chan Boley walks K-9 Officer Brindi around the cones to see if she can identity the illegal narcotics, she chose the correct cone.

By KATIE MARTIRE
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Second graders from North East were in for an unexpected surprise on Thursday afternoon. Students from Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Veres classes study a reading series each week and this week was Working Dogs.
Agents from the Guymon Police Department, Goodwell, the District Attorney's Task Force, Chief of Police for Guymon Public Schools and K-9 trainer form AmeriK9, Juston Hutchinson, came to the school to give the students some basic information about what all K-9's are used for and to answer any questions the students might have. Two of the seven K-9's used by local officers were present to demonstrate a few drills.
Demonstrations were held for the classes at the tennis court east of the school. Officers showed the children what a K-9 police officer is trained to do. Six cones were placed in a row, one containing an illegal substance, Brindi, the K-9 officer present, detected the odor of an illegal substance under the correct cone, also showing what she does once an illegal substance is found. Lieutenant Michael Arndt, wore a protective sleeve and showed the students how the K-9 officer acts upon commands and also how the K-9 would respond if a perpetrator were to attack an officer, Rasha was the second K-9 unit deployed for demonstrations.
K-9 trainer, Hutchinson, visited Guymon from Braggs, Okla., to give local officers a two-week training course about the K-9 officers. "These dogs are imported from Europe," said Hutchinson. "They have been in school longer than you guys. These dogs are considered officers of the law and if you hurt one of them, it is just like hurting a regular police officer. These dogs do not just attack anyone, they go through extensive training."
Chief of Police for Guymon Public Schools, Read Barby, recently received a K-9 officer, Angle (pronounced with a Spanish accent, Barby calls her Angel). Angle was given to Barby by the D.A. Task Force. "Angle has been trained in honing and tracking, building searches, drug interdiction and also exhibitions like this classroom exercise. I would really like to thank the D.A. Task Force for her. We have used her in searching vehicles for illegal narcotics and also take her to schools, not only in Guymon but in Texhoma and Goodwell."
The Europe based German Shepards can cost up to $12,000 and are greatly utilized in drug and bomb detection, among many other things they are trained to do, such as protecting officers from harm and chasing perpetrators.