POINT PLEASANT — Point Pleasant Police Officer Travis Popiel gave a presentation at the borough library on Tuesday with his K-9 partner Juno, teaching families about what a K-9 unit does and their importance in a community.
Officer Popiel and Juno are Point Pleasant’s first and only K-9 unit, created in 2017. Officer Popiel has been working with Juno since he was 14 months old. The dog is seven years old now.
Juno is a Czech shepherd, otherwise known as a Bohemian shepherd, which looks very similar to their German relatives. He was born in the Czech Republic, and brought to Wisconsin when he was very young. Officer Popiel said he had to drive to Wisconsin, an 18-hour trip both ways, to pick up Juno.
“He knew nothing when I got him. He didn’t have a name, he didn’t know me, I didn’t know him, so we had to go to training,” said Officer Popiel. The training was for 18 weeks, when Juno and Officer Popiel began to learn each other.
“I know what he’s going to do before he does it. He knows what I’m going to do before I do it. He outsmarts me every single day. These dogs are very, very smart,” said Officer Popiel.
Juno is now a fully certified patrol and scent detection dog.
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