Editor’s Note: This story comes from observations and interviews made during Item reporter Stewart Smith’s ride-along with Huntsville Patrol Officer Blane Rodgers on the night of Tuesday, Dec. 19.



Quintus may just be the hardest working dog in Huntsville.

While most canines are snuggled inside their homes at night, Quintus and his master, Patrol Officer Blane Rodgers of the Huntsville Police Department, are out patrolling the streets of the city keeping their eyes, ears and (in Quintus’ case) nose open for any signs of trouble.

Quintus spends a large poriton of his night in the caged, back seat portion of Rodgers’ patrol SUV.

However, this night Rodgers put Quintus to work on at least three occasions.

The first was during what started as a routine traffic stop.

Rodgers pulled the driver over due to a poorly illuminated license plate, however, it soon turned into a search for narcotics as Rodgers said the smell of marijuana was remarkably strong inside the vehicle.

After finding the remains of a small cigar with marijuana rolled inside, Rodgers brought Quintus out to sniff out the rest of the vehicle.

The stop was concluded after Quintus made no indication of hidden narcotics, though certainly not because his equipment wasn’t working.

A training exercise later that night showed no nose knows like Quintus’ nose knows.

Rodgers had earlier thrown a nylon holster and the magazine from a Ruger out into a grassy area.

Despite the light rain dampening the field and the items, Quintus seemed to have very little trouble in locating the items.

No primer scent was provided, only a command in Dutch from Rodgers was given and Quintus immediately began scouring the area. He’s quite tenacious, too.

During the second round of “fetch,” it took him a bit longer to find the items, but he refused to give up until they were in his jaws.

The exercise, Rodgers said, is to sharpen Quintus for any on-foot pursuits since those being pursued often drop multiple items (either on purpose or by accident).

Rodgers always uses practical, realistic items in the exercise (no balls, bones or sticks in other words).

“We want to keep it as realistic as possible,” he said.

However, Rodgers said it can often be difficult when training Quintus as he doesn’t always follow the correct trail.

“I know where the track is at, so if my dog gets off the track, I can correct him and put him back on,” Rodgers said. “The hard part is that the suspect is not going to tell where he ran.

“It’s tough. Do you want to correct him and put him on the right track or do you do it like a real situation? He might figure it out on his own or he might run two miles before he doesn’t smell anything anymore.”

Once he is on the trail, though, it’s not just the scent of the suspect Quintus goes after.

Rodgers said Quintus is trained to notice the scent of broken vegetation and disturbed earth as the scent of a suspect won’t always linger as long as those.

Another exercise used in Quintus’ training includes hiding actual narcotics.

In this case, two vials of cocaine were hidden inside trucks at the City Service Center which Quintus almost immediately found upon being given the command to search.

Quintus is used in two more traffic stops that night, once when Rodgers thought he saw a cocaine-like white powder inside a vehicle and once when a driver was suspected of possibly smuggling narcotics to Mexico from Dallas.

No drugs were found in either incident.

As good a job as Quintus does, Rodgers said there is still a lot that both of them need to learn.

“It’s really a partnership between us,” Rodgers said. “It’s all a learning experience for both of us.”

They have plenty of time to bond together, though, as nearly every waking moment is spent together since Quintus goes home with Rodgers every night.