Police dog "Quinto" of the Kilgore Police Department attacks instructor Jan Huiting of Holland as Longview Police Department K-9 Officer Johnny Edwards keeps a gun leveled at the "suspect" Wednesday afternoon. K-9 teams from law enforcement departments in Longview, Kilgore, Henderson, Austin and Williamson County are training this week in Longview.

Paws-ing for training
East Texas K-9 officers and their handlers
get workout this week in Longview

      Ignoring the gunfire echoing around him, Kilgore police dog Quinto zeroed in on the suspect ahead, barreling into the man with enough force to knock him to the ground as the German Shepherd bit down.

Seconds later, Kilgore Police K-9 Officer David Falco broke his partner's grip on the so-called subject, Dutch instructor Jan Huiting, who stood and began to remove the 90 pounds of padding that protected  him form the police dog's powerful bite.

As passing motorists slowed to watch the action, Falco, Quinto and other K-9 teams from Longview, Kilgore, Henderson, Austin and Williamson County brushed up on their felony traffic stop skills Wednesday at Zimmerson Sign Co. on Kodak Boulevard in Longview.

Wednesday marked the third day of classes at the first ever local Police K-9 Seminar for Patrol Dogs, a joint effort between Kilgore College's East Texas Police Academy and Seven Pines Kennel in Longview.

"No one does anything for K-9 officers around here," said retired police officer Guy Powell, who owns Seven Pines Kennel with his wife, Judith. "This is probably the most overlooked aspect of law enforcement, and people don't understand how much time and training goes into this. For an officer, the worst time to see how your dog handles is when you're out on the street, so we're going to test them here."

During the weeklong seminar, dog-handler teams conducted building searches and practiced felony traffic stops and tracking. In addition, in one of the final exercises Friday, the dogs will be required to subdue suspects in a tear-gas filled house, Powell said.

It takes more than two years to train a police dog, who must be able to work in any environment and must--above all--be depended upon by his human partner to react appropriately in all situations, Powell said.

What it all boils down to is "dependability and accountability," according to Huiting, who is a trainer for the Dutch Military Service Dogs in Holland-- a country in which the people's passion for the annual police dog trials rivals Americans' love of the Super Bowl.

"When the pair gets into a situation where all odds are against them, the officer must be able to rely on the dog," said Huiting, speaking through a translator. "They are a team, and you must make sure your dog is there for you."

Such a partnership has formed between Falco and Quinto, who placed third this year in the law enforcement division of the National Narcotics Detector Dog Association's annual competition.

For the local officers, this week's seminar was the first such opportunity they've had to attend a training session in East Texas.

"A lot of our job consists of training to make us proficient," Falco said. "We try to go to as many seminars as possible, because you can take ideas from all of them and use what you determine to be best for your particular team."

And long after the seminar ends, local police will still be practicing and refining the techniques they learned this week, said Longview police K-9 Officer Johnny Edwards, who worked with officials at Zimmerman Sign to use the company's cavernous main building as a training ground.

"We started off with weather and scheduling problems, and then were given use of this building," said Edwards, watching a dog-handler team ascend a dark staircase and approach a hidden suspect. "The way it's set up lets you do a lot of different things. This has been perfect.