How do you keep a group of 50 are so kids quiet when sitting in the Seymour Community Center gymnasium?
Bring in a few dogs from the Seymour Police Department’s K‑9 team to amaze them.
That’s what happened Thursday afternoon at the Seymour Boys and Girls Club on Pine Street when Rex, a 14-month old Belgian Malinois/German shepherd mix, and his handler Seymour Police Officer Matthew Butler, appeared with Officer John Oczkowski and his canine partner, Sage.
The kids were disappointed when they were told they shouldn’t pet Rex or Sage, since it was explained to them they are trained to be protective of their space.
But they squealed with delight when they were told they could play with Cali, a 15-week-old police puppy in training brought along specifically for the kids to play with.
Cali was clearly a hit with the kids as the puppy made his way through the sea of children and licked the face of Seymour Boys and Girls Club Program Director Jesse Patrick.
Erich Grasso, a dog trainer from Custom Police Canine Academy, told the children that Rex and Sage are “essential’’ members of the Seymour Police Department.
Police departments often share police dogs to help in different kinds of investigations.
“And Rex and Officer Butler,’’ Grasso told the children, “have already found illegal drugs in three different cases. That never would have happened without the dog.’’
Butler and Rex are new to the Seymour police department, while Oczkowski and Sage are long-time veterans.
Butler and Rex have been on the job for a little more than a month after finishing a rigorous training course in New Milford.
The children watched as the officers and their dogs went through a series of training exercises.
The dogs found what the officers told the children were “illegal drugs’’ behind the bleachers near the basketball nets, among other police techniques.
Both officers and Grasso said with the recent increase in illicit drug activity that police departments are seeing throughout the state of Connecticut, dogs have become an even more essential part of a police department’s strategy to fight illegal drugs.
“The dogs are so, so valuable in the fight against drugs,’’ said Grasso. “We are seeing that value each and every day.’’
