The doors to the Stephen C. O'Connell Center were closed to the public, and the lobby was quiet — except for the sound of determined sniffing. Nose to the ground and muscles tensed, Beto the yellow Labrador retriever was on the hunt.
Beto works alongside three other dogs that are all part of the UF Police Department’s K-9 division. The four dogs that make up the UFPD K-9 Explosives Detection Dogs are trained for one purpose: to track down explosives.
Each dog has been hard at work since they were just over a year old — the age when they finish their initial training and are paired with their handler, said Sgt. Kenny Motes, who is paired with Beto.
However, the training doesn’t end there. The teams are trained every week for 12 hours and carry out pre-event sweeps for most events on campus, Motes said. On Friday, a sweep of the O'Connell Center was scheduled in preparation for a gymnastics meet, so detection dogs Beto, Ruff and Libby were called in to put their training to the test.
Officer Michael Mayall and his yellow Labrador Ronnie, who make up the fourth pair of the team, weren’t present for the security sweep.
Selecting dogs that will take well to the training means looking for distinct traits like the animal’s drive to hunt, play and retrieve. What makes the dogs so remarkable is the specialized training they’re given before paired with a handler.
The K-9 division serves as a crucial step in securing sporting and speaking events and often extends past the borders of UF’s campus, Motes said. Recently, the dogs were requested as additional security for the Daytona 500, a prestigious NASCAR race about two hours southeast of Gainesville.
“A lot of the events wouldn’t even be allowed to go on unless the dogs cleared it,” he said.
The dogs offer multiple advantages over X-ray and technology-based explosive detection, Motes said. The dogs cost less and are more efficient and accurate. While the dogs are working, they’re kept on a 6-foot leash, so the handlers have full control if explosives are detected or a situation escalates.
If an explosive is found or the situation is urgent enough, a call is made to the Explosive Ordinance Disposal to take care of the threats. But every time a dog is on-duty with its partner, they both have to deal with the added danger of one of those threats being real, Motes said.
The four highly trained K-9s live with rules average dogs aren’t restrained by. They have associations with different toys and gear that help them know when they’re working, like a specific collar they only wear when they’re on the job, Motes said.
However, the dogs get the opportunity to relax when they’re off duty.
“When my dog goes home,” Motes said, “at that point he gets to be a dog.”
Motes said Beto is known for being very needy. When Beto is off duty, he demands pets every 10 minutes, often nipping at Motes’ hand for attention.
When Beto clocked into his shift at the O'Connell Center on Friday, he jumped up and leaned in for a hug before getting to work.
“They have to have that time to be able to relax, just the same that we do,” said Sgt. Terrell Williams.
Williams’ dog, Ruff, a black Labrador nearly seven years into his career, is set to retire next year. While Ruff loves the work he does, he can also play fetch non-stop, Williams said.
Williams said he believes every relationship between a dog and their partner is unique.
“One of the things that I learned is that they take on their handler’s personality,” he said. “If you're calm-demeanored, you might have a calm dog. If you're rambunctious, your dog will be the same.”
While Ruff is about to start his retirement plan of fetch and relaxation, Libby, also a black Labrador, is still going strong.
Officer Renee Jost, Libby’s handler, is getting ready to throw Libby her fifth birthday party soon. Libby’s lively personality has made her fairly well-known on campus, even getting her name printed on Jost’s UFPD K-9 patrol vehicle. Libby is always looking forward to more pets, she said.
“I'm with my dog all the time,” Jost said. “She's my non-human best friend.”
Jost said Libby likes to spin around in circles and never stops moving, and when she goes home, she gets to be a regular dog and watch movies with her special blanket on the couch.
When a dog retires, they’re given a small shadow box filled with some photos, their leash, their police collar and their badge, Motes said. At the end of their life, the K-9s earn a plaque in honor of their service.
Contact Kaysheri Haffner at khaffner@alligator.org. Follow her on X @kaysheri_h.
Kaysheri Haffner is a second-year journalism major and the Criminal Justice reporter for the Alligator. When she's not on the clock, she can be found reading a book or working on a creative writing project.
