LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — Curious, hardworking, and calm—that's how K-9 handler and Kingston Township Police Officer Jeffrey Carter describes the department's newest member, Dilly.
"She's always, 'Where am I sniffing or what am I doing next?' But at home, she's a completely different dog. She could be just wanting to lay down, lay on the couch," Officer Carter said. "She'll be two in June. She's a German shorthaired pointer from the Netherlands. And she came over and trained at Shallow Creek Kennels out in Sharpsville, Pennsylvania."
The department went with this breed over others you typically see in uniform for its approachability for members of the community.
Dilly specializes in getting petted, but when it gets down to business, her area of expertise is narcotics.
"We have over 900 searches or sniffs conducted with me, and then prior to that being there, she actually was training and getting imprinted on all her narcotics detection."
That's something her handler says is on the rise in the Back Mountain.
"It's on the up every year. We haven't had any slowdown, and I think COVID had a lot to do with it, too. And then a lot of the people coming into town are the ones bringing it."
Dilly still has some training to do, but this duo hope to turn that trend around.
"She's only on two weeks now and then some, so we're still continuing training here with other agencies. Dallas Township has been a big help with it."
See more pets and animal stories on WNEP's YouTube playlist.