Jagger always
had lots of tail wagging personality ... so much so, he
ran the show! He was a full grown,
full blown tornado of unfocused untrained energy
when his former owners realized he needed a new home.
GRRI-NJ accepted Jagger into the program even though we KNEW that placing
him would be difficult. He was quite a handful,
but he was also very sweet, and we knew he deserved a
genuine second chance. But he'd need a special
kind of owner -- someone who would work with him on much
needed training -- and who could keep up with his
boundless energy level.
GRRI-NJ's first
step was to set Jagger up at a residential training
program, so he could learn to become reasonably well
behaved before we sought out the right adoptive home for
him. While he was there, GRRI-NJ received an inquiry from the
Port
Authority Police Department asking if we had any young, energetic dogs
with a high play drive ... and guess who immediately came to mind!
The PAPD loved
Jagger right away, and within a few weeks, started him
in a very specialized training program. Jagger
excelled, and graduated as a certified
explosives
detection dog. In fact, according to Sgt. Oliva of the
PAPD
Canine Unit, Jagger was one of the fastest learners they'd ever trained.
Today, Jagger
proudly carries canine shield #23 on his
collar, and is "programmed" to identify over 25 different
explosive scents! His new career has taken him up in
helicopters, into the New York subway system, onto city
buses and onto passenger ships.
After
graduation, and then for more than a year, Jagger
and his two-legged partner,
Police Officer Rich Colon, were stationed at the World Trade
Center. Workers in the area got quite used to seeing a red Golden
Retriever patrolling, and Jagger made lots of friends.
A GRRI-NJ volunteer working in a nearby office
building would often see Jagger too, stopping to give
him a pet on the head on his way into work.
Thankfully, on the morning of 9/11/01,
Jagger and Officer Colon happened NOT to be on duty ... and thus
were spared on that terrible, terrible day.
Today you can
find Jagger and Officer Colon at virtually any Port
Authority facility ... from the tunnels to the bridges
to the airports, they're on the job, doing the important
work they've been trained
to do ... and making GRRI-NJ
VERY proud!!
GRRI-NJ's web site
design and maintenance is made possible entirely by donated
services.
Please report any errors to the
Webmaster
Copyright 2008 GRRI-NJ. All Rights Reserved.
