Police K-9 Saves Autistic Child
A dog's nose doesn't lie! Especially the nose of a trained police dog. K-9 Maverick, a police K-9 with the Washington County Sheriff's Department in Oregon, saved the life of an autistic boy stuck in a cold, fast-moving creek.
The heavily wooded area adjacent to the creek where the 8-year-old boy got lost was thick and difficult for police to maneuver through, let alone find a missing child. Thanks to the impeccable nose of K-9 Maverick, they could track him down in just twenty minutes. K-9 Maverick's handler, Deputy Danny Dipietro, says that the dog took off immediately when they began to track through the woods and that he led them straight to the boy, who was in the middle of the creek and was wet and shivering from the cold.
If officers had not been able to reach the boy so quickly, it is likely he would not have survived. He was at risk of being swept under or suffering from hypothermia.
Police K-9s are capable of incredible work. I am incredibly fortunate to be filming with an outstanding sheriff's department whose K-9 unit trains using progressive methods and does not resort to physical punishment or using shock collars on their dogs. As a result, they have some of the most highly skilled dogs I have ever seen. It doesn't surprise me that K-9 Maverick was able to find this boy so quickly--these dogs have extraordinary abilities.
