By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green’s super sniffing sleuth showed off his skills Wednesday morning for an audience of young admirers.
Arci, the police division’s K-9 cop, visited with his human counterpart Sgt. Gordon Finger, during a children’s program offered by the Wood County District Public Library.
“My dog is very friendly. He loves people,” Finger said.
But Arci also has a job to do.
“My dog loves to bite people. His favorite thing to do is bite the guy in the suit,” during training, Finger said. “It’s like a big giant toy.”
Arci, a Belgian Malinois, is all business.
“My dog, he’s got a job to do,” Finger explained to the children. “His job is to protect me. His job is to search for evidence of crimes.”
And that means Arci is treated differently than other dogs – including no treats.
The K-9 cop is trained to sniff out drugs and find crime suspects. And it’s Finger’s job to watch Arci’s cues so he knows what the dog is telling him.
“He’s like a homing missile,” Finger said. “Every human being has a different unique odor.”
When tracking someone, Arci’s ears are up and his nose is down to the ground, pulling Finger at a steady pace. Finger knows they are getting close to the suspect when Arci lifts his head and starts breathing through his mouth.
“Most of my job is to pay attention to what he is telling me.”
Arci is also trained to find missing people.
But “the one problem is that Arci is trained to bite someone at the end of it” when he tracks the person down, Finger added.
“He just really doesn’t have fear. These dogs will not let go. If a dog is shot or stabbed, he’s going to keep doing his job.”
Arci came from Holland, where he was bred specifically for police or military work. He understands commands in both Dutch and English. When he joined BGPD, he and Finger went to six weeks of training together.
The learning didn’t stop there, with the dog’s training being a constant part of his service. The pair train four to six hours every week, with a volunteer in a padded suit, and usually at night so Arci uses his nose and not his eyes to track. Finger’s uniform is different from other officers, so Arci can quickly identify him.
Finger uses eight to 10 Dutch commands to direct Arci.
“He listens to me,” Finger said. “He knows I’m the dominant one in our rank.”
While Arci doesn’t get treats, he does get rewards. His favorite is a drool-covered ball.
If Arci doesn’t obey, he may get a tug on his collar. That’s all he needs to know he screwed up.
“He needs to know dad’s disappointed in him,” Finger said.
After that tug, Finger follows it up by letting Arci successfully perform three tasks – “to get him back on my team.”
The human and canine officers are with each other 24/7.
“He always has to listen to me,” Finger said.
Arci follows Finger everywhere at home, even sitting outside the shower till Finger is done.
He shares his home with two other dogs – a 95-pound Belgian Malinois, who is a police dog dropout, and a 12-pound Schnoodle.
As a working dog, Arci can’t play or get tossed treats like the other dogs. But Finger assured the children that Arci gets plenty of toys.
“They sell these toys online and they call them ‘indestructible.’ They’re wrong,” Finger said.
But even when he’s playing, Arci is focused. He obeys commands of when he has to wait, and when he can grab the toy.
“Arci is very smart,” Finger said.
As a working dog, he has his own passport. “He can travel the world if he wants to.”
Finger, who has been on the BG Police Division for 23 years, said the last five years with Arci have been the best.
The typical police dog works eight to 12 years. Arci is 7 ½. Once he retires from the force, he will stay with the Finger family – though it may be difficult at first.
“He will be mad every time he sees me going to work,” Finger said.
