Stranger #19

Stranger #19-

You may be wondering why I have a picture of a dog as my stranger. Although it probably wouldnt surprise you, I actually did get the chance to speak with his handler standing to the left of him! Matt, a k9 police officer who has been a cop for 15 years isnt allowed to have his picture taken when he is on duty. Matt felt pretty bad that he wasnt able to allow me to take his picture but I would never want to jeopardize his career, so, I took a picture of his partner in crime, Fritz instead!

Meet Matt Mocharnuk. Again, Matt is a k9 handler, and cop for Philadelphia. Him and his k9 partner, Fritz are together, literally 24 hours a day. They live together, and their bond is so tight that even Matts Fiance, just recently was able to pet him. He's extremely protective of Matt. As I was walking up to them, I knew to ask how close I was able to get to them. Matt said that I wasnt able to get too close because Fritz would kill me (he didnt use these words, but I could tell you that it couldve been the outcome. The dog looked hungry!) Matt and I stood about 6 feet apart during the entire conversation, but meeting Matt was perfect timing. My graduating thesis that I'm writing is 30 pages (with more to go) about K9s, training, breeds, their effectiveness, and how they are portrayed in the media. Ive been researching this topic for months, and it was beyond amazing for me to be able to run in and talk with someone who has hands on experience instead of reading countless amounts of newspaper articles. Not to mention, I obviously love talking to people, and German Sheps are my favorite dogs ever!

Fritz is 3 years old and hes been working for the PPD and with Matt for two years. He's a bomb sniffing dog, and was put through 6 months of training (14 weeks of patrol and 10 weeks of explosive sniffing training) as well as twice a month upkeep training sessions. Fritz's price tag was $7000.00, and was flown in from Czechoslovakia. You'll never guess who donated the money so that this dog can be purchased to help fight crime for the PPD. If you give up, the person plays in the NFL. If you truly give up, his name is Ben Roethlisberger. Matt also told me that Ben, aside from being a quarterback actually has a charity dedicated to police dogs. I never knew that he had this charity, and regardless of what people say and what he has/hasnt done, I love the idea of it. Being a hardcore Eagles fan, ya know, I wont get into football, but if you read how hard it is to establish a k9 unit, and how effective these dogs are, you may possibly agree that this is a great thing!

Matt also chose to tell me that Fritz is a dog that is used to search any hotel rooms, or premises that anyone head of state, president, vice president, etc. steps foot in. Matt says that there are about 32 dogs working for the city. Of those dogs, 15 are explosive sniffing dogs, 15 narcotic dogs, and 2 cadavar dogs. Fritz is obviously extremely effective, and a great addition to the PPD.

See all that you can learn just by talking to someone around you?