Ten dogs and one horse were welcomed into the service during the largest animal-specific badging ceremony ever hosted by the Calgary police.

Held at the canine park outside of the recently renovated Calgary Police Discovery Centre on May 26, the certification marked the newly employed animals’ transition from training to the official joining of their respective units.

All training is conducted in-house by Calgary Police Service (CPS) officers who have spent at least five years working patrol before joining the unit. The ceremony not only honoured the animals, but also the crew behind the scenes.

“This work goes beyond training — it’s about building a true partnership,” said CPS Chief Katie McLellan. 

“Earning this badge reflects that dedication, and it is with those strong partnerships, both within the teams and across our agencies, that drive our success.”

While the lone horse will work in mounted patrol, the canines will perform specialized tasks related to suspect apprehension, body recovery, and the detection of harmful substances.

Of the 10 dogs, four will work in the general canine unit, two will detect human remains, and another four will detect drugs. 

The last four will work for the Alberta Sheriffs in what will be their first year with their own drug-detection canine team, trained with assistance from the Calgary police and used as part of their highway patrol program. 

“We were happy to assist and lend a hand,” said Sgt. Ian Vernon from the CPS’s canine unit. 

“Starting a canine unit from scratch and becoming a canine trainer is no small feat.”

On average, each dog is deployed approximately four times each shift, responding to a total of 5,000 calls for service each year. Chief McLellan explained the importance of the roles both dogs and horses play. 

“The work they do is fast-paced, specialized, and incredibly important in keeping people safe,” she said. 

“Our four-legged members help us do things we could not do or want to do on our own in much the same way our mounted unit brings its own distinct role in how we serve our community by providing a visible and engaging presence.”

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Led by Const. Razvan Alexe is the horse Archer, 5, who started his training just last year. Despite standing at just 16 hands high — just over 5 ft — and being the smallest in the stable, he has an impressive resume.

Supervisor and trainer for CPS’s mounted patrol team, Robin Koltusky, explained that he is a patrol horse and that since he started with the police, he has attended missing-persons searches and every Operation Order expedition. 

“Archer has proven himself to be kind, inquisitive, and quiet, who always tries hard for his partner,” she said.

“He is well-mannered and is willing to try anything that is asked of him.”

In 2016, Koltusky said that the CPS started the tradition of naming their service horses in honour of Canadian military events. She said that his name came from Afghanistan’s Operation Enduring Freedom, which was casually called ‘Operation Archer.’

Archer is a Percheron and American Quarter Horse cross gelding, which Koltusky said is not the standard pedigree for patrol horses. Additionally, German short-haired pointers are not typically human-remains-detecting dogs, but this year’s graduation class had two of them. 

Sgt. Vernon explained that Labrador retrievers are usually selected for the job, but that the pair of pointers — Quinn and Bill — shared the same likeness of “happily searching and following their noses” in being traditional bird-hunting dogs. 

Patrol and drug dogs are mostly German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois, Vernon said. No matter the breed or task, he said that each canine undergoes four to six months of training with its handler. 

These are officers who have volunteered for the job and have undergone just as much training to prepare for the responsibility. Vernon said this includes almost half a year of live-in situations and rigid lesson plans. 

“These new dog handlers got to experience firsthand a crash course of dogs whining at 4 a.m. as they settle into their new homes, unscheduled vet appointments on their days off, and watching the indestructible toy last 10 minutes,” he said. 

“These guys got it all in a very, very short time, and I’m sure if you asked them, they wouldn’t trade it for another.”