Bellingham Police Department K9 unit welcomes two new additions

The Bellingham Police Department is welcoming two new dogs to their K9 unit, bringing the total to four. The BPD has kept at least one dog on the force since the K9 unit’s inception in 1969, making it the longest-running K9 program in Washington.

Stella, a Belgian Malinois, is the 46th dog to join the force and is handled by Officer Nick Sturlaugson. Brego, a German Shepherd, is the 47th and is handled by Officer Shaun Nelson.

They are joining patrol and drug detection K9 Rudy and explosive detection K9 Raven. Stella and Brego will act as dual-purpose patrol and drug detection dogs once their last round of certifications is complete.

“Each one is unique in their personalities,” Jeremy Woodward, a K9 officer who handles Rudy, said in an interview with The Bellingham Herald. “We’re laughing at the dogs all day long.”

For example, Stella, the social butterfly, must say ‘hello’ to everyone before beginning her duties. Meanwhile, Brego is all business, eager to get the job done, Woodward said.

“In work mode [Stella is] a good patrol dog, and then when she switches it off, she’s back to ‘hey, love me, hi,’” Sturlaugson told The Herald.

These attributes, among others, are what the officers looked for when they traveled in April to pick out their dogs from Alabama Canine , a vendor for law enforcement dogs.

“Confidence would probably be number one, social ability, dogs that are social with people and nonaggressive dogs,” Woodward said.

Stella and Brego had to complete 400 hours of training to become certified patrol dogs. Now, they must undergo an additional 200 hours of drug detection training.

With around 160 hours left, both dogs have begun training regimes where they learn to track and find drugs based on scent. They learn through a reward system. Each success is met with either a treat or a game of tug-of-war.

“Once you determine what a dog likes, you can basically train it to do whatever you want it to do,” Woodward said.

However, training for a member of the K9 unit is never really over. Even after they’ve met their training requirements, each dog must complete 10 hours of training a week on top of their daily duties.

The day after his certification, Brego caught a burglary suspect after tracking the man for about a mile through the woods and across a river along Mt. Baker highway.

Stella also got a running start when she completed a track on a DUI suspect who fled the scene at a traffic stop. After tracking him for about 200 yards, Stella found the suspect overdosing. BPD was able to provide life-saving care.

At nearly three years old Stella and Brego will continue to serve the BPD as patrol dogs until they finish their training.