Meet Boomer: Northampton County's New K9

EASTON, Pa. (WLVT) - "Where is it? Zoeken! Come on!"

A daily workout for K9 Boomer involves a lot of panting and sniffing.

"Zitten, zitten. Good boy."

The newest member of the Northampton County Sheriff’s Department is ready to serve.

"The employees like him. We like him, and it’s about safety, and that’s what he’s doing," said Sheriff Richard Johnston.

Boomer is a 16-month-old chocolate lab who was a gift from an anonymous donor to the county. Boomer was born in The Netherlands and takes commands in Dutch. For example, "zoeken" means "search," and "zitten" means "sit."

Deputy Sheriff Stephen Tuxhorn has been working with Boomer for 12 weeks. After weeks of training at Progressive K9 Academy in Walnutport, Boomer works and lives with Tuxhorn and his family.

"His name was Dexter when we first got him, and Dexter didn’t fit him," he said. "He was jumping around, bouncing all over the place, so we named him Boomer."

Boomer is certified in scent detection for explosive odors. Tuxhorn demonstrated Boomer's training Wednesday at a vacant facility across the street from the courthouse.

"For the scent work, you just basically roll a couple towels up...and they’ll have cotton balls in it," Tuxhorn said. "You would just toss them back and forth, and you’ll start hiding them. Once you start hiding them, you work in real explosives, pseudo-explosives, and you have the dog associate the towel being the reward from the play in the beginning with the scent and the odor.”

Boomer starts his day at the loading dock behind the Northampton County courthouse in Easton, checking for suspicious packages. County officials said people have abandoned briefcases and mailed letters with powder inside.

With Boomer, the county saves time and money, because officials don't have to evacuate the courthouse if they find something alarming.

County executive Lamont McClure said there have been a few evacuations in the past that led to false alarms, but safety has always been the county's top priority for its employees and courtroom visitors.

"That one time you assume it’s a scare and not the real thing is the one time where there’s a loss of life or injury, and that’s why we have Boomer," he said. "We’re not going to take any chances with people’s lives."

Tuxhorn said Boomer is learning to track humans by their scent. Once he’s certified, Boomer can help find missing people in the community.

Boomer is the second K9 in Northampton County. K9 Dani works closely with the Department of Corrections to find drugs, and there are plans to officially add court therapy dogs.

"Soon, we will be using canines to calm children who have to go to court for their Children, Youth and Families matters," McClure said, "so, we’re really proud of our effort to have canines help us."

Boomer is very playful, Tuxhorn said, but people who see the K9 out in the community should ask to interact with Boomer before approaching him.