Manheim Township Police Department (MTPD) K-9 Officer Ruck, a Belgian Malinois, has been accompanying Officer Matt Bender daily since 2015. A bomb-sniffing dog, Ruck has swept planes for visiting dignitaries and successfully tracked a suspect through local woods.

Recently, Ruck was introduced to two new K-9 officers who began working with MTPD handlers. K-9 Officer Odin, a 2-year-old Belgian Malinois, has been paired with Officer Lucas Starsinic. K-9 Officer Zeke, a 17-month-old Dutch Shepherd, works with Officer Shane Long. Both dogs are trained to detect narcotics and as patrol dogs. Their skills include building searches and tracking. Eventually, MTPD plans to have four K-9 officers on the force.

According to Long, Odin and officer Zeke came from the Netherlands with some basic training before training with Starsinic and Long for five weeks in Boiling Springs. Both Odin and Zeke respond to mostly Dutch commands, while Bender gives Ruck orders in German. All three dogs are with the officers 24/7, accompanying them on daily calls and living with them.

The dogs also perform demonstrations and attend community events such as the National Night Out held at Neffsville Community Park on Aug. 2.

Off-duty, Starsinic noted that dogs will be dogs. "He never settles down," he said of Odin. "He's well-behaved ... but if you don't watch him, he gets into stuff." To help curtail some of that energy, Starsinic said the dogs are kept "busy and tired." To keep the dogs' skills sharp, the officers train the K-9s together twice a month in accordance with mandatory federal standards.

Since Zeke and Odin are new to the force, they are still gaining experience in police work. "No major drug busts (yet)," said Starsinic, who noted that Odin was involved in an "apprehension without force."

With several years at MTPD under his collar, Ruck has racked up accomplishments, including hunting for bombs at the Lancaster Country Club during the U.S. Women's Open in 2015 and inspecting planes for President Donald Trump, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Ruck has created big paw prints for Odin and Zeke to fill, but the rookies have years ahead to chase after Ruck's record.

For more information on MTPD, please visit http://www.manheimtownship.org.