Crime & Safety

What Has Newton's K-9 Been Up To Lately?

Take a look at what Dakota, the Newton Police Department K-9, and his handler Officer Daniel Valenta have been doing.

It's been about 18 months since the Newton Police Department got ... furry.

Dakota, a German shepherd/Dutch shepherd mix born and bred in the Czech Republic, officially started work at the department in March 2011 after completing an intense 20 weeks of training.

Dakota's handler, Officer Daniel Valente, said that even with those 20 weeks of training, his work with his K-9 partner continues daily. Last weekend, that training took a fun and competitive turn at the Westford 4H Facility where Dakota and Valente competed in a Massachusetts Working Dogs Protection Sports Association competition.

It was the second time they've taken part in the competition, and the results this year were significantly better.

Valente explained that there are two portions to the competition: an obedience portion and an apprehension portion. To get to the apprehension portion, competitors have to pass the obedience portion ... which Dakota didn't quite manage last year.

"One of the portions of obedience is you need to walk with him at a heel," Valente said, explaining that the competition is for working dogs of all types, not just police dogs. "While you're doing that, they fire off two shots from a blank gun. The dog is not supposed to do anything or come out of a heel."

Dakota, however, is a police dog and gunshots indicate it's time for him to go to work, Valente explained. Unfortunately, springing into action during the competition wasn't the goal.

"He wanted to do what he was trained to do," Valente said.

But Valente and a few other members of the police department took some time recently ensuring Dakota knew to stay put when the blank shots were fired at this year's competition.

And the training paid off. Dakota rocketed through the obedience portion of the July 6 competition and nailed the apprehension portion as well, earning a combined score of 142.5 out of a possible 165 points, according to the K-9 unit Facebook page. It was good enough for third place out of the 25 dogs that started the competition and the 15 that made it to the apprehension portion.

Not bad for a dog that didn't make it out of round 1 last year.

Dakota's performance in the competition also earned him a Protection Dog Certification.

"Now he's a PDC," Valente said. "It's just like another degree for the dog, basically. It shows I have full control of him through obedience and [apprehension] work as well."

Dakota is about 2.5 years old, and Valente said he's already impressed with his K-9's skills even though he knows Dakota will just get better with age and experience.

"He's got a lot of puppy in him," Valente said. "He hasn't reached his peak yet. He's going to be a good dog. He already is."

Dakota is specifically trained in narcotics detection and apprehension. Just a couple of weeks ago, Dakota was involved in tracking a shoplifting suspect hiding in a shed on Los Angeles Street.

"He's an asset we have and a tool," Valente said. "I'm all about letting people know about the dog. I want the community to know its their dog."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.