PITTSFIELD, Mass. - K-9 units from around Berkshire County get together once a week for eight-hour training sessions where handlers and their dogs work on the skills they use when responding to real situations. On Tuesday, we met the county's three newest dogs from Adams, North Adams and Dalton, as well as two canines from Pittsfield.

“Three newest ones are doing great," Adams Police Sgt. Curtis Crane said. "We just finished our 12-week school last month.”

What You Need To Know

  • Adams, North Adams and Dalton police have new K-9 officers who completed basic patrol school this summer and joined their respective forces

  • Their K-9 handlers are Sgt. Curtis Crane (Adams), Officer Mike Cogswell (North Adams), Sgt. James Duryea (Dalton)

  • The Adams Hometown Market donated Adam and will provide financial aid for the first five years of his life. A grant from the Stanton Foundation paid for North Adams' Rocky. Xander in Dalton was paid for with a grant through Massachusetts Vest-A-Dog.

  • Berkshire County K-9 officers are certified through the North American Police Work Dog Association. The 12-week basic K9 patrol school is run by Berkshire County Sheriff's Office accredited Master Trainer Dwane Foisy.

Adam completed basic K-9 patrol school at the same time as North Adams PD’s new dog Rocky and Xander, who’s now part of the Dalton Police Department.

“At the start of that school, we work through basic obedience where the dog has to be under full control," Crane said, "off leash, on-leash - at all times.”

Crane said the dogs are trained in patrol work to find suspects and evidence. On Tuesday in Pittsfield, they worked on building searches. The two Pittsfield dogs in attendance, Apollo and Rico, are trained in narcotics detection, which Rocky and Xander are working on. Crane said Adam will be trained to search for illegal firearms instead of drugs.

While the K-9s shouldn’t be thought of as pets, Crane said Berkshire County’s dogs are trained to be toy-driven when doing their jobs.

“All these dogs are all toy-rewarded," Crane said. "I always use the example, if you had a steak in this hand and a tug or a ball in this hand, our dogs are going to go after that tug or ball 99% of the time, whereas your regular pet, they're going to probably take the steak over the toy.”

Crane said police dogs are vital to the work of departments across the country. They’re often the first ones sent into situations with dangerous suspects. Berkshire County's dogs are part of the North American Police Work Dog Association. It’s important their training is consistent and rigorous to ensure the safety of officers and the public.

“These dogs, basically they work for free, other than food and treats and their toy every once in a while," Crane said. "And they put their life on the line just like we do. They can find things that the human cannot find just based on using their nose.”

Adams and North Adams police will be adding additional new dogs to their forces in the coming weeks.