Fritz & His Journey Of Keeping MRHS Safe
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DescriptionAn article highlighting MRHS's SRO dog Fritz and the amazing work he has done to keep the school safe.
MessageWe love Fritz!
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Harwich Police DepartmentIn a world where safety and security in schools have become vital, our school has introduced a unique way of ensuring the well-being of all students and staff. If you attend Monomoy Regional High School, chances are you’ve encountered our Harwich Police K9, Fritz. Many people know Fritz as a very friendly, energetic, and playful dog, but what some may not know is that he’s also incredibly intelligent. This furry officer allows for safety against harmful substances, and in his role at Monomoy, he has become an important part of our community.
During 2019, the use of marijuana and vapes by teenagers had significantly increased, not only in our community but across the nation. Marijuana has been legalized for the past few years, and at this point, regular police K9 dogs were no longer being trained to detect it. Because of this, we could see the use of marijuana and vapes becoming a lot more common in our school district, more common than any other type of drug. This is when our school identified vaping and the use of marijuana as being their biggest issue.
Also known as our school’s resource officer, Harwich Police Officer Tom Clarke proposed an idea as a means to fight this increasing issue. With the help of the school administration, the superintendent, and our local police department, that same year we were able to introduce Fritz to our community.
Fritz is currently four years old and was originally born in Hungary, however, we received him from the U.S. vendor Shallow Creek Kennels in Pennsylvania, which is a known police dog training facility. Fritz is trained to detect THC and nicotine, both of which are prime ingredients used in e-cigarettes and other vaping devices. In order to become so talented, Fritz was given very focused training.
According to Officer Clarke, this training consisted of two weeks of him growing a trustful bond with the dog, twelve weeks of scent detection, odor imprintation/recognition and positive association, exposure to the type of environment he would work in, search procedures (classrooms, vehicles, and exposure to marijuana and vaping products). When he smells one of these substances, he either sits or lays down to indicate to Officer Clarke that he’s found something. By going through and completing his training, Fritz became a professional in his work.
Having a dog to rely on for drug detection is highly important. Dogs are able to smell things in a much greater way than humans can. While humans have 5 million scent receptor cells, dogs can have anywhere from 200-300 million, meaning that a dog’s scent is 10,000-100,000 times stronger than people’s. With this advantage, identifying these substances has become a lot easier for our school.Another benefit Fritz brings to the table is how comfortable students are around him. Fritz is not only a drug detector, but he can be viewed as our school’s therapy dog. He’s very friendly and approachable, interacting with the students daily. The kids love to have him around and grow excited whenever they see him walk by in the halls.
From the beginning, having Fritz within our school district has shown nothing but positive effects. It’s been about four years since he was first introduced, and through those years we can see that Fritz’s presence has certainly helped to make a difference in our school. With his intelligence, dedication, and loyalty to our community, Fritz has become a cherished member of Monomoy.
During 2019, the use of marijuana and vapes by teenagers had significantly increased, not only in our community but across the nation. Marijuana has been legalized for the past few years, and at this point, regular police K9 dogs were no longer being trained to detect it. Because of this, we could see the use of marijuana and vapes becoming a lot more common in our school district, more common than any other type of drug. This is when our school identified vaping and the use of marijuana as being their biggest issue.
Also known as our school’s resource officer, Harwich Police Officer Tom Clarke proposed an idea as a means to fight this increasing issue. With the help of the school administration, the superintendent, and our local police department, that same year we were able to introduce Fritz to our community.
Fritz is currently four years old and was originally born in Hungary, however, we received him from the U.S. vendor Shallow Creek Kennels in Pennsylvania, which is a known police dog training facility. Fritz is trained to detect THC and nicotine, both of which are prime ingredients used in e-cigarettes and other vaping devices. In order to become so talented, Fritz was given very focused training.
According to Officer Clarke, this training consisted of two weeks of him growing a trustful bond with the dog, twelve weeks of scent detection, odor imprintation/recognition and positive association, exposure to the type of environment he would work in, search procedures (classrooms, vehicles, and exposure to marijuana and vaping products). When he smells one of these substances, he either sits or lays down to indicate to Officer Clarke that he’s found something. By going through and completing his training, Fritz became a professional in his work.
Having a dog to rely on for drug detection is highly important. Dogs are able to smell things in a much greater way than humans can. While humans have 5 million scent receptor cells, dogs can have anywhere from 200-300 million, meaning that a dog’s scent is 10,000-100,000 times stronger than people’s. With this advantage, identifying these substances has become a lot easier for our school.Another benefit Fritz brings to the table is how comfortable students are around him. Fritz is not only a drug detector, but he can be viewed as our school’s therapy dog. He’s very friendly and approachable, interacting with the students daily. The kids love to have him around and grow excited whenever they see him walk by in the halls.
From the beginning, having Fritz within our school district has shown nothing but positive effects. It’s been about four years since he was first introduced, and through those years we can see that Fritz’s presence has certainly helped to make a difference in our school. With his intelligence, dedication, and loyalty to our community, Fritz has become a cherished member of Monomoy.
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