A rookie prepares to sniff out trouble at DNC

Just imagine. You're a rookie to the force, and what's your first assignment? The Democratic National Convention.

And you're not just assigned to patrol. You are a trained explosives specialist. Sensitive work. The safety of thousands could rest on your shoulders.

But at Friday's graduation ceremony, the SEPTA Transit Police Department's newest officer took it in stride. And when it was all over, he was ready to kick back.

K-9 Officer Quest loves to fetch.

SEPTA's Quest and classmate Nero, who will serve with the Norristown Police Department - that department's first K-9 officer in more than 10 years - on Friday became the latest graduates of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine's Working Dog Center.

Opened on Sept. 11, 2012, the center is dedicated to studying and producing elite scent-detention dogs to work in the fields of public safety and health. All of the dogs are named for canines that served after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and their victims.

Twenty-nine have completed their training; 20 others are still at it. First the basics, then specialties, kind of like canine graduate school.

"They pick their own careers," said Cindy Otto, the center's executive director. It depends on their likes, temperaments, and tendencies, sort of like human graduate students.

Quest and Nero, both German shepherds, shone as police candidates: Quest, for finding explosives; Nero, as a drug detection dog.

Some of their predecessors went into less-known working-dog fields. One sniffs out bedbugs. Another is a "cancer dog," capable of identifying ovarian cancer in blood samples. Penn - the human health system - has three cancer-sniffing dogs, Otto said.

Confidence is important for these kinds of assignments, Otto said. So are trainability, stability, and persistence - the stick-to-it-iveness that gets a job done.

Besides their specialty detection work, Quest and Nero will be called on to do their bit for community policing.

"Both of them are wonderfully social. They are nice dogs," Otto said. "But they both have an intensity that turns on when they are doing their work."

Their officer-handlers are counting on that, just as they would for any partner. Although the graduation ceremony was Friday, dogs and men will be wrapping up their training next week.

"I had dogs all my life," said Norristown Officer Christopher Narkin, 43, who started training with Nero a few months ago. "It was something that I wanted since I started in 1997" as an officer. "I kept asking to do it."

Nero, 11/2, came along at a good time for the rest of his household as well. Longtime pet Zoey, a bulldog, had just died. The family, including Narkin's four children, was grieving.

Nero, whose scheduled first day at work is July 25, helped fix that. Besides his zest for police and detection work, Nero is a water dog - more likely than not to be found beating the heat in his kiddie pool during his off-time.

Quest, 21/2, has a thing for spherical objects. At Friday's ceremony, he dutifully demonstrated his detection skills, sniffing out explosive material planted in an air-conditioning unit.

"After he found it, his ball came out and it was a big party," said Officer Richard Donaldson, his 29-year-old partner, who shares a home with his fiancee and Quest.

Donaldson and Quest will soon have their work cut out for them. Quest's first official workday will be a week from Saturday - two days before the Democratic convention begins at the Wells Fargo Center. He'll be checking for explosives and also covering a lot of ground - major transit lines, Center City, around South Philly. Everywhere, lots and lots of people.

Other dogs - Quest's seniors - will be working around the convention as well. Donaldson has faith that his K-9 will take it all in stride.

Quest even gets along with the couple's cat, Misty.

rgiordano@phillynews.com

215-854-2391 @ritagiordano