Benny Westcott
Gemma, an 8-year-old Belgian Malinois, has been a drug-sniffing dog for the Sweet Home Police Department for nearly 3 years.
But as of Feb. 1, Gemma has a new handler, along with a new home.
Officer Brian Prather, who joined the police force in 2019, is the department’s new canine handler after Gemma’s former partner, Officer Sasha McDonald, left the Police Department to pursue other career paths.
Gemma has moved into the home of Prather, who already has a Belgian malinois and German shepherd of his own.
Gemma has had a smooth transition to her new home.
“It’s been great,” Prather said. “They play and get along. I haven’t had a single issue. My dogs have been with me for years, and when she came into the house nothing even really changed. They just got used to her pretty quick.”
Gemma has been a drug detection dog for the Sweet Home Police Department since April of 2018, patrolling the streets with McDonald after earning her certification in locating heroin, cocaine and methamphetamines through the Oregon Police Canine Association.
After McDonald left, Police Chief Jeff Lynn decided he wanted to keep the canine position in the department, so he appointed Prather as Gemma’s new handler after Prather expressed interest in the role.
“I’ve always wanted to be a canine handler,” Prather said. “I was in the Air Force for seven years and I wanted to do it when I was there but the opportunity never really presented itself. So I’m really happy I get the opportunity to do it in the civilian world and be able to help the community keep some drugs off the streets.”
“It was kind of disappointing when I wasn’t able to do it in the Air Force, because they get to do a lot of cool stuff with the military,” Prather continued.
“But doing it out here, I think it’s better because you actually get the real experience of working with narcotics canines and other canine handlers that have a lot more experience and can teach a lot more. I’ve only had the dog for a couple of weeks but I’ve already learned a whole lot about canines.”
Prather describes himself as a “dog lover.” He lived with a canine handler when he was in the Air Force and was able to observe dog training methods.
“I was able to start wrapping my head around the concept of how everything works with canines,” he said.
Prather emphasized the importance of a strong bond between a canine and its handler.
“You’re working as a team. If I know how she is and how she reacts to certain situations, that just makes it that much easier for us to work together.”
He said the bond is “critical to getting the job done.”
Since Feb. 1, Gemma has been accompanying Prather on his day-to-day activities, but they aren’t technically qualified to conduct drug-sniffing assignments until they are certified together. Prather and Gemma will have to certify as a team through the Oregon Police Canine Association, and before that certification process Prather has to go through a five-week training course.
“It will teach me not only how to properly handle the canine, but also about the laws and how things actually are supposed to go as far as getting into those situations where we do seize drugs,” Prather said.
Though he has not been able to start the course yet, Prather has been meeting with a group of other local agencies that do canine training every week.
“They can at least get me started in the right direction,” Prather said. “When I do go to the five-week course I’ll be a little more prepared.”
Prather says Gemma has been showing a lot of energy in training sessions and when she is out with him on shift.
“She’s getting up there in age for a dog, so that could be classified as a weakness, but in the past couple of weeks I’ve seen nothing but a lot of energy out of her. With her being 8 years old I thought she was going to be kind of slower paced with everything but she’s all gas and no brakes really.”
Gemma loves to interact with the public. “Sometimes when I do park checks I like to bring her out just to be around other people,” said Prather. “People like to see her. When people see her they usually ask to come pet her, and she’s the friendliest dog ever.”