Introducing Servo: Our Sponsored K9
Industrial Repair Service is always working towards ways to support our communities, and most recently, IRS has sponsored a K9 for the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department! In honor of our company, they have named him Servo and living up to his name, he’s been quite the motor-vated pup on the job.
Servo, a Florida native, will be two years old in June and has currently been working for one month, specifically trained in narcotics detection. He’ll soon be able to scout missing people as well.
One of the drug detection training methods that has been used with Servo starts with trainers stuffing a tube with specific odors, usually those of drugs found in cities across America, including marijuana, cocaine, and heroin. These tubes have holes in them, so Servo had easier access to those scents, and the trainers played fetch, getting Servo to find the toy and bring it back. After some time, Servo began to associate the pipe with that odor, and once he found the tube, he’d alert his handler. When he’d fully grasped this technique, his training was complete and now he’s able to use his new talents in the real world.
Not only do dogs have to go through an immense amount of training, but so do their handlers. Deputy Bryan Stark says that when he’s using Servo to sniff out narcotics, he must be able to articulate the change in his behavior, his breathing, and other things that might indicate an alert. While to the regular person, it might not seem like something is off, Stark can detect those indications with just a few movements from Servo. Seeing as Stark also lives and takes care of him off the job, he already knows Servo better than anyone else!
James Doyle, President and Chief Executive Officer of Industrial Repair Service, explains that he couldn’t be happier with the impact Servo has had on the community, and he hopes to do something similar in the future at our other locations.
“It’s the first time we’ve ever done anything like this, and it feels really good,” said Doyle. “We’re proud to be able to support our local law enforcement and help them keep our community safe. This is just the beginning.”