Cpl. John Harvey of the Richmond County Marshal’s Office and his 16-month K9, Lexi, are fresh out of training and getting familiar their new beat at the Augusta Regional Airport, learning the lay of the land with longtime handler Sgt. Thomas Boettcher and veteran K9 Abby.
Harvey and his Labrador retriever will soon take over the Airport K9 Division on behalf of Boettcher who is planning on “maybe” retiring with Abby in 18 months.
Growing up with a father who spent 26 years in the Air Force, Harvey sought out a career with a similar structure such as the military or law enforcement.
“I like the promotional aspect of it; there’s a clear cut, defined pathway and you work your way up,” said Harvey, who has been in law enforcement since 2008 and has worked with two previous working dogs.
“I started in the jail with Columbia County for two years and then I did 10 years with Richmond County’s Sheriff’s Office,” said Harvey. “I did about seven or eight years in K9 with the Sheriff’s Office and I started with a single-purpose tracking dog.”
Since starting in law enforcement about 14 years ago, Harvey said he always desired to work with the K9 division and, because of the constant time together, officers end up developing an extremely close bond with their canine partner.
“I grew up with dogs; I love dogs and to me it’s just the best of both worlds,” he said. “You bring your best friend to work, and you basically spend 24 hours a day with your dog. You spend more time with that dog than you do your family.”
Harvey said he enjoys working with canines because of their specialized purpose which differs from other officer’s daily tasks.
“Everything can get a little monotonous with responding to the same calls over and over again; whereas, K9 kind of gives you something different to do than your normal everyday law enforcement tasks,” he said.
MORE: Working dog sniffs out her retirement
Harvey said working in the K9 division with law enforcement was everything he thought it would be – and more.
“There’s a lot more to it than people think, because a lot of people think that K9 is like, ‘oh they get to have fun and bring their dog to work with them’ and it’s all that, but the other side to it is that it’s a 24/7 job,” he said. “Where everybody else kind of gets to get off work and turn that work switch off, with K9 you’re bringing work home with you. You’re on call pretty much 24/7 and having [the dog] is just an extra responsibility that you’re bringing home from work to constantly remind you of work.”
Regardless of the constant care one must take when working with a K9, Harvey said he has always enjoyed it and would never want to give up that responsibility or the companionship.
“I love it and I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” he said. “Even when planning vacations, everything in your life revolves around that dog because we don’t board them.”
While adjusting to the airport, Harvey said his favorite part is getting to know the public and having enjoyable interactions with them – something he did not get often when mostly working to apprehend criminals.
“I can walk the hallways a hundred times without my dog, and somebody might say ‘hi’ to me, but I walk down the hallway with her and every other person that I walk past is stopping to pet her and take pictures with her,” he said. “The interaction with kids is awesome. I have a three-year-old, and the kids love seeing her. To me, it’s one of the most positive sides of law enforcement because a lot of people love dogs, so it kind of breaks down that barrier and allows you to have conversations with people.”
Harvey said receiving his new Labrador retriever took an adjustment period on his part, since he is used to working with an intimidating German Shepherd.
“At first the transition from a 90-pound German Shepherd to a 45-pound lab was an adjustment,” he said. “The biggest adjustment was going from a high-drive German Shepherd where it’s all discipline and obedience, whereas a lab is a little more timid, and you can’t be too harsh on them or they’ll shut down. So, it’s going from strict obedience to like kid gloves, that was a big transition. They work off of positive motivation – it’s not the whole strict obedience, listen to me type of thing.”
With acquiring Lexi, a 4-week training and equipment costing roughly $60,000, according to Chief Deputy Scott Peebles of the Marshal’s Office, Harvey said he is dedicated to keeping the airport and staff safe.
From a public naming competition held by the Marshal’s Office on social media, the new K9 pup was newly dubbed Alexandria, Lexi for short, with Greek origins meaning “protector of humanity.”
Constantly spinning around her new handler, already Lexi is known to be a goofy, happy canine who loves to play ball. However, Harvey said he is still trying to teach her how to relax and turn off her ‘work’ switch when she’s home – something Lexi has never gotten to feel prior to her partnership with Harvey.
“She didn’t really understand relaxing on the couch or on the floor, but what has helped now, the past few weeks we’ve been back from handler school, is my retired German Shepherd at the house,” he said. “She’s kind of picking up on his behavior. She’s kind of cueing off of him, and they get along very well. Since the minute I brought her into the house, they’ve been super tight.”
Harvey said he discovered, at home, Lexi likes to hide her own toys and later pretends to find them again.
“Whenever she’s playing with a ball, the first couple of times I thought she was accidentally losing it like under the couch or bed, and then I very quickly realized she was purposefully doing it,” he said. “In the backyard, she’ll knock it under the deck because she wants you to get it for her. She hides her own toys intentionally, so you’re constantly having to find balls she hides. If she’s able to get it out though, she gets excited all over again like she didn’t just do it herself.”
Harvey then shared how his German Shepherd has deeply connected with Lexi, to his relief.
“He has never let anybody have [his toy] unless he’s told to do so, but especially another dog. But within two or three days of her being home, she can go up and take it out of his mouth,” he said. “So, she’ll go up and steal from a dog twice her size and run off with it and she’s running circles around him.”
Around other dogs, until she gets used to them, Lexi still acts a little timid. However, when it comes to Harvey’s German Shepherd, Lexi is fearless.
Until his retirement, Harvey said he enjoys working with Boettcher and teaming up to set up training scenarios for their canines.
New to the supervisor role, Harvey said he is grateful for Boettcher’s guidance and advice for the job.
“I wouldn’t say I’m nervous about it. I think it’s great that they brought me in early, rather than waiting til [Boettcher] retired,” he said. “I think that was the goal because I’m still learning the airport – it’s still new to me. Hopefully in the next 18 months or so, I can learn everything from [Boettcher] to take over the K9 unit.”
Boettcher, who started the Airport K9 Division, said he hopes Harvey ensures the program’s future success and is looking forward to it one day expanding.
“My biggest thing is – it was very hard to get it started so please keep it going. To get them to commit to spending that kind of money is not an easy task, so keep the ball rolling,” said Boettcher. In the meantime, one visiting the airport can see Abby and Lexi often chasing after each other’s balls while Abby tolerates Lexi’s playful, puppy behavior until retirement.
Liz Wright is a staff writer covering education and general assignments for The Augusta Press. Reach her at liz@theaugustapress.com
