WOODBURY, Minn-- The Woodbury Police Department has two new cadets who are receiving a lot of extra attention.
Despite being only 9-weeks old, Buster and Cirrus are learning what it takes to be an official K9 officer.
“We’re teaching them our games and getting them comfortable with their environment,” Sgt. Jason Posel says.
The two puppies are the youngest K9’s the department has ever had and according to Posel, they’re most likely the youngest the entire country has ever had.
“To our knowledge we’re the only ones doing this here,” Posel explains. “This is something that’s been done in other countries.”
The department got the idea from police departments in Winnipeg and London, which are both currently training their own K9 officers.
This approach of bringing in puppies early is different than the traditional route other departments follow.
“They usually bring them in when they’re one-year-olds. They get their training overseas where they’re born and bred,” Posel explains.
Training the dogs themselves has several advantages, for one thing, it’s cheaper.
The department is estimating that raising the dogs in Woodbury instead of overseas will save them $7,000--$9,000 per dog.
Training the dogs here also allows them to train the dogs their way.
“We want to train them with the other dogs we already have. It forms sort of like a little brother/big brother type of relationship,” Posel says.
However, training the dogs themselves does come with two big disadvantage, it’s a lot of hard work, and it's expensive.
Police say they wouldn't be able to start this new training program if it weren't for the Woodbury Police K9 Fund, a local nonprofit that pays for the dogs' food and medical bills.
If you want to check in on these puppies throughout their training, the Woodbury Police K9 Fund will post updates on its Facebook Page throughout their first year on the force.