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Sara Fischer had a sleeping puppy tucked under her table Thursday at the Girls with Goals career fair at Arkansas State University Mountain Home, and it was hard for passersby to resist taking a peek.
The puppy, a nearly 14-week-old long-haired German shepherd named Kairos, is not just a cute face. He is the newest employee of the Baxter County Coroner’s Office and the first cadaver dog in the Twin Lakes Area.
Baxter County Coroner Sam Seamans announced this week that Fischer, who serves as chief deputy coroner, came up with the idea to add a cadaver dog to the team. Fischer purchased Kairos herself and will handle his training personally, saving the county thousands of dollars in professional training costs.
Fischer said all detection dogs begin with a foundation in search and rescue before branching into specialized certifications. Kairos will not be eligible to receive his certificate of completion until he turns one year old, at which point he must successfully complete three separate courses. The evaluation judges both dog and handler.
“They judge both the handler and the dog,” Fischer said. “I have to be able to read that he has hit on a scent and then give him the command to find it.”
Once Kairos signals a find, he must locate the source, alert Fischer and then lead her back to it if it is not within her line of sight. Fischer said she previously trained a search and rescue dog, giving her a head start on the process.
For now, Kairos is still a puppy with a lot of growing to do. But if Thursday was any indication, he is already a natural at making friends.
