It’s been more than a year since we first told you about Larry, the electronics-sniffing dog employed by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. So, we thought it was time to see if he's still pulling his weight.
The answer is yes. The three-year-old English lab is still just as effective uncovering computer hard drives, USBs and cell phones as he was in the beginning. His handler, Detective Rick Haun, tells a story of when Larry ripped down the shelving in a closet until he found something.
Haun likens him to a "flashlight." The reason he can go directly to electronic devices is because they all have a certain chemical odor, which the dog is trained to smell.
RELATED: A Columbus zoo gorilla thought to be a male has given birth
Larry was recently recertified, and the training was rigorous, says Haun. "We'll put them (devices) in locations that are really difficult to find. We'll put them up in ceiling tiles, on top of ceiling fans, inside water, and buried deep into cabinets and drawers."
Haun says Larry hasn't failed yet.
Larry's unexpected role
Over time, Larry has turned out to be so much more than an electronics-sniffing dog. Haun has noticed the mood switch when the dog enters a room with frustrated detectives. "With all the different cases we're doing, and we step away for a second and play with Larry, the mood comes up, everybody goes back to normal."
RELATED: How to help your pets deal with summer fireworks
Larry also seems to sense when a child needs comforting. "Even when we go to a search warrant, if there's children there or the wife is distraught because she doesn't know what's going on, and I can just go get Larry and sit with him and he plays with the kids and it turns the whole thing around," says Haun.
Haun can't talk about specific cases or exactly what Larry has found under carpet, between mattresses and in the back of filing cabinets. But between doing his job and working hard to get everyone in a good mood, the English lab is exhausted by the time he gets home. Haun says he has to wake Larry up just to go to the bathroom. The dog then heads back to bed to rest up before another day at the office.
