Students Treated To An Agility Demonstration

By Susan Coney

State Police Officer Jason Cassavechia stopped by a children’s summer school program at Reed Intermediate School last week to demonstrate the intelligence of his fellow police officer, Dakota.

Officer Cassavechia and Dakota have been partners for the past three years.

Dakota, a 5-year-old German shepherd, is a certified patrol and narcotics canine. He was specially bred in Hungary to be a working, law-enforcement dog. He weighs 85 pounds and was purchased at a cost of $3,000. Dakota even has a protective flak jacket to wear in extremely dangerous situations. He accompanies Officer Cassavechia on all of his official duties and is trained to sniff out and identify eight different types of drugs.

For tactical reasons Dakota responds to hand signals as well as verbal commands. He received more than four months of obedience training and five weeks of intensive drug training to make the grade and become a certified police dog. He gets recertified every six months to assure that his skills are kept fresh and up to par.

 Being the first canine partner that Officer Cassavechia has ever had, Dakota has exceeded all expectations. “He always has to be with me and only listens and responds to me,” the officer told the children. “I go to motor vehicle accidents, domestic violence calls, and perform all the duties of a regular officer with Dakota by my side.” The children were mesmerized by the agility performance that the pair demonstrated.

Officer Cassavechia told the children that he has thoroughly enjoyed learning from and working with a patrol dog and was fortunate to have gotten partnered with one early in his career. “He’s the best back-up I’ve ever had. He doesn’t talk back and comes home to live with my wife and me after work. He’s part of our family,” he said.

Following the demonstration and discussion about Dakota and the duties he performs the children were allowed to come up for a closer look and to pet him.