Students have been reading about and discussing different ways animals and people help each other. Moore and Jessie provided a real-life look at the different ways people and animals work together.
Jessie is only 16 months old and has been working with Deputy Moore since April. Moore’s first dog, Grizzly, retired after working nearly seven years with the department.
“Jessie’s still young, and he’s still learning a lot,” Moore told the second graders who asked questions about the team and how they work together. “He helps in a lot of ways. He can do tracking, like if someone is lost. He helps with apprehension and protection of officers, and he can search for articles.”
Moore set up a demonstration where Jessie sniffed through four containers, one of which contained a small amount of drugs for the dog to find. Jessie walked past the first obstacle and down to the fourth then turned back and sat down beside the third indicating his detection of an illegal substance. He was quickly rewarded with his favorite chew toy.
“He’s got a really good nose to smell everything,” said Moore who answered more than a dozen questions from students about everything from what the dog eats, to how much he weighs (79 pounds), and the different ways he helps Moore and other officers.
Moore told students his partnership with his canine team members is important. “He can help me in a lot of ways, and I help him by training him and taking care of him.”