Police Dog Of The Year / Age: 4½ / Lake County Sheriff K-9

Training is never truly completed for police dogs. For K-9s like Jaeger, schooling continues in the field with 480 hours of patrol school. Corporal Yancy Isaacs is Jaeger’s handler, and he discusses the process of training a police dog and Jaeger’s successes.

What are some of the things Jaeger must master before he goes out? Heeling control, distance control, social exposure, gunfire exposure, recall, apprehension, stress under gunfire, search, alert, and tracking.

What is the most important part of his education? Obedience: It is the line of communication between you and the dog. Everything else will come. Without obedience, everything else probably won’t be all that great because he won’t end up respecting you. Respect is the dog doing what he doesn’t want to do because you want him to do it.

What’s his job? What does he train for? He’s a full-service patrol dog, meaning he has to track and find people in a building or just a general area. And he also will find narcotics.

What has been the toughest obstacle? Jaeger fell ill and the doctors said he wouldn’t make it off the operating table. There is a 99-percent mortality rate for his condition and that was a year ago.

What has been Jaeger’s biggest success? Jaeger received the Eustis Elks Club’s Lake County Sheriff K-9 of the Year award this year.

Favorite toy: He’s got a ball he’ll hurt you over.

Favorite treat: Summer sausage.

PHOTO: Fred Lopez