The Pennsylvania Game Commission has added three new officers to its ranks.

Gunner, Skye and Storm are Labrador retriever puppies. They are stationed in various areas throughout the state while their training is on-going. Larry Hergenroeder, special investigator and K-9 handler for Storm, a five-and-a-half month old Black Lab, said the dogs came from a kennel in Maine that specializes in search and rescue, cadaver and other service dogs.

He said the other two dogs are the red fox versions of Yellow Labs, and are slightly older than Storm.

Hergenroeder and Storm are stationed in Mercer, and are responsible for western Pennsylvania counties, including Warren. “Basically my area is the 20 counties between Lake Erie and West Virginia,” he said.

The dogs have three primary missions: article/evidence search, tracking and wildlife detection.

“They actually are officers, and have their own badges,” Hergenroeder said.

He explained that article/evidence searches could be items left behind by unknown shooters, such as fired shotgun shells and other evidence. Tracking could be to find “the bad guys,” and wildlife detection would be primarily to find big game stashed in vehicles or homes.

First, however, comes obedience training. “Obedience training is the hardest thing for me,” he said. “They are puppies and they make mistakes. She may sit every time I tell her to today, but tomorrow, she might not want to and only sit half of the time. Their training started at eight weeks, and we do obedience training every day. Once she’s fully trained, she’ll sit at my feet or lay down until I tell her to do something else.”

Hergenroeder said, “I’ve had dogs all my life, but this is the first time I’ve trained a K-9. We learn along with the dogs.”

He gave as an example, if you are trying to get a dog to move, and you pull upwards on the lead, the front end of the dog comes up, and the rear end naturally drops into a sitting position, the opposite of what you wanted.

“When we first ran the obstacle course, I could keep up with her, but not anymore,” he said.

The wildlife detection training will begin next spring, after the dogs have their obedience training down pat.

While training, he said they use a harness for tracking, a flat collar for article searches and a slip chain for wildlife detection. Doing this the dogs learn what is the job, and what is expected of them before they even start.

There is also a public affairs side to the job. “Labs are a lot more people friendly than the German Shepherds used for other K-9 jobs,” he said.

Hergenroeder said he filled in for another Wildlife Conservation Officer recently at the Elk Exposition in Benezette, Elk County. “People came running up to the truck saying, ‘Where’s Storm, where’s Storm?’ It’s (the K-9 program) very popular and positive with the public.”

And the trucks are specially outfitted for K-9s. “Our vehicles are modified to have crates in the rear, air conditioning ducts to keep the animal cool, and we run regimented checks to make sure everything is okay,” he said.

Hergenroeder said he and Storm are on call 24/7 for the 20 counties, to assist in investigations. “I’ll be on the road a lot,” he added.

When Storm isn’t working, she is part of the Hergenroeder family. They have other dogs, and his wife has a “Morkie.”

“She and Storm are best buddies,” he said, “but when we put on the flat orange collar, she knows it’s time to work.”