By Jason Klaiber

Staff Writer

The police K-9 exhibit once again returned to the Great New York State Fair this year.

On Aug. 27, a group of state troopers showcased the skills of their police dogs.

“It’s a nice way to bridge gaps between law enforcement and the community,” Trooper Eric Knapp said.

Knapp acted as the master of ceremonies, beginning the half-hour show by giving an overview of the organized K-9 program.

He said in 1975 the state purchased three explosive-detecting canines in anticipation of the 1980 Winter Olympic Games held in Lake Placid.

Now 106 teams of K-9s exist in tandem with the New York State Police, amounting to the largest non-military K-9 unit in the country.

Knapp, the Troop D K-9 coordinator, said dogs are used for their heightened sense of smell.

The state operates a centralized K-9 training facility in Cooperstown.

“A dog’s nose is roughly 40 times stronger than a human being’s nose,” Knapp said.

The dogs have been used to track down missing people, human remains and criminals on the run and to sniff out narcotics and explosives undetected by their human counterparts.

Each dog featured in the show had been named after a different state trooper who lost his or her life in the line of duty.

“It’s a distinct honor for every K-9 handler to be able to carry on the memory of that fallen trooper with the daily hard work of their K-9 partner,” Knapp said.

The first dog to enter the show was Schini, a bloodhound named in honor of Trooper Craig Todeschini.  

Trooper Kevin Connors, who handles Schini, said bloodhounds have around 300 million scent receptors in their nose, as opposed to the 5 million humans have.  

Connors said a bloodhound’s ears help them detect scents as well, dragging along the ground and sweeping up odors to their nose like “mini fans” on the side of their head.

Connors also scrunched up Schini’s face to show the wrinkles in her loose skin, which collect scents.

Trooper Kylie Black brought out Rudd, a half-German Shepherd, half-Belgian Malinois named after Trooper Ernest Rudd.

Black had Rudd do lunges and squats, a way she tries to keep the dog in shape.    

The state troopers welcomed back now-retired K-9 Mandin, whose cape and title of “superdog” was passed on to Belgian Malinois Ada. Mandin, adorned with a Hawaiian shirt, received a dog bone in return.

Both dogs were named after Trooper Amanda Anna—Mandin as a masculine-sounding alternative to Amanda and Ada in recognition of Anna’s initials.   

Trooper Jeffrey Dovigh brought out DJ, a German Shepherd named after Trooper David J. Lane.

On command, DJ ran through an agility course and a streamer-laden hoop called “the ring of fire.”

An audience member volunteered to put on protective gear such as a helmet and jacket, only to prepare for two German Shepherd puppies to be unleashed.

The show ended with the screening of a parody of the A&E series Live PD on a 12,000-square-inch jumbotron, depicting a bank robber who entered the fairgrounds and eventually reached the exhibit enclosure, where in real time he was taken down by one of the K-9s.   

The show featured the Troop D K-9 unit operating out of Onondaga, Oswego, Madison, Lewis, Herkimer, Oneida, and Jefferson counties alongside the Troop K unit based in the Catskill Mountains region.

The demonstration was dedicated to Sgt. Jeffrey Cicora, who passed away on Aug. 10 from cancer attributed to search and recovery efforts at the World Trade Center site after the Sept. 11 attacks.