Back in April of 1994, Sturia enrolled in a police dog-training school and was paired with an energetic yellow lab named Kirby.
Lessons start with a basic game of fetch with a towel.
Sturia would wrap a small bag of marijuana inside and the dog is asked to retrieve it. And again for weeks. The pair, working with trainer Rick Cook of Canton, joined five other area policemen to complete the nine-week training course. Miss. The result is a drug-sniffing dog capable of searching cars, homes and other places police suspect there may be marijuana or cocaine. Dogs have different ways of indicating drugs, Sturia said.