The newest member of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office K9 unit continues to train for his new position with the agency.

Sheriff Jared Schneider says their K9 unit is back to two law enforcement dogs with Drako and the addition of Dzamal, taking the place of Vasco who died of cancer in early December. He says while all K9’s are trained to protect fellow deputies and officers, each dog has their own personality, “An insight from me, not being a K9 handler and seeing it from the outside, I can pet Dzamal, (but) Vasco I was never real comfortable petting. Not to say he wasn’t safe to be around, but you knew that was just something you would not do with him. Just like Drako will be around the office and we might play, but I’m going to tell you, if you walk by his vehicle he’s all business. You hear it and you know that it’s their home and they’re going to protect it.”

Dzamal and his handler, Deputy Nolan Burke, are in the midst of a four-week training session in Forest City.  Burke says barring any setbacks at the school, Dzamal will be ready to begin his duty once training is completed, “We’ll be ready to go to work, he’ll go to work with me right away once we get done with school. It’s amazing how fast these dogs learn and from day one of not knowing what a drug odor is to finding drugs in a room all by themselves takes about a day and a half.”

Burke says because of the bond that’s required between him and the dog, he’ll spend more time with his K9 partner than he does with his own family. You can hear more from Sheriff Schneider and Deputy Burke in their extended interview during our special Public Safety Magazines at 1 and 6 p.m. today on KCII.

*pictured Washington Co. Sheriff’s Deputy Nolan Burke and new K9 partner, Dzamal