The Presque Isle County Sheriff’s Office officially commissioned CANINE (K-9) Trigger as a Presque Isle County sheriff’s deputy. In sheriff Bob Paschke’s office this week, Trigger was deputized and is ready TO sniff out wrongdoing and keep county residents safe. “It’s the same oath I would give an officer (HUMAN),” said Paschke. The only part of the swearing in ceremony that was different than the many officers who have been sworn in before the first-ever four-legged officer, Trigger, didn’t raise his paw or recite words.

Even if the 2-year-old German shepherd could recite any part of the oath, IT would have been in Hungarian, because that’s where he was raised. Trigger has his badge, which hangs from his collar, and is ready to go. His badge number – K-9, of course. According to handler Dean Tebo, Trigger loves his work and can’t wait to get in the squad car each day for the day’s duties, which consists mostly of daily training. “It’s a great resource for the department,” said Paschke. “The more and more he gets trained, the more and more he gets familiar with Dean and the more and more Dean gets familiar with him, it’s just going to work out great for us.”

Tebo and Trigger spent nearly five weeks studying and training together in Clare. During that time, Tebo, who spearheaded the establishment of the program, was away from his family. “It’s definitely something this department has needed,” said Tebo. “We’ve used other department’s K-9s in the past” He saw a need, and with Paschke’s blessing he received approval from the county board of commissioners and financial support from private funding from many residents and countywide businesses, as well as support from the department’s highest ranking officers, Paschke and undersheriff Joe Brewbaker.

“He’s already paid off,” said Tebo. “His first night on duty, we assisted Cheboygan County made an apprehension on an 18-year-old male chasing around his stepdad with a gun.” On the home turf, Trigger helped locate two handguns and marijuana from a vehicle registered to a Dearborn resident during a routine traffic stop. During hunting season, he was called out twice to search for missing hunters. “Thankfully, they were found before the dog was ever utilized,” said Tebo. “If need be, he was there for that.”

Trained K-9 officers are capable of finding a teardrop of gasoline in an Olympic-sized swimming pool. “It’s amazing how they do it,” said Tebo. “Every day this dog teaches me something new that he can do.” When the search for the right dog started, Tebo, Paschke and Brewbaker wrote a list of what they wanted out of a K-9. The dog had to be “personable, sociable, young, so we get a lot of life out of him, and be a great tracker and a good narcotics dog.” They received assistance from Northern Michigan K-9 in locating the dog in a small village outside of Budapest, Hungary. Trigger lives with Tebo, but in separate living quarters. He’s well mannered around Tebo’s family, which includes two dogs and is kid-friendly.

K-9s of the past were considered “land sharks,” but all Tebo has to do is call out one of several Hungarian commands and Trigger’s demeanor instantly changes. If there’s a serious situation, Trigger is all business. Tebo will be taking Trigger into the schools and was at a meeting Tuesday to meet with township representatives from across the county. Citizens National Bank was a major contributor, providing a $5,000 donation to get the program off the ground. Kolasa Kustom’s of Onaway provided a tracking collar, so the dog can be easily located if lost. Tebo said there were many people who donated that wanted to remain anonymous.

“Our CareTrak program didn’t work in this county,” said Paschke. “I went to the people who donated and asked if they wanted the money back or if they wanted to put it toward another program and most of them said give it to the K-9 program.” “We are only two months into this,” said Tebo, “come back a year from now.”