Specially trained tracking canines bring their heightened senses to the assistance of Orangeburg’s law enforcement officers.

Both the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety and the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office depend on their dogs to sniff out clues that will lead to the capture or recovery of persons or items.

Kayla, a four-year-old Belgian Malinois, has been in the service of ODPS for three years. Her handler, Cpl. Paul Wise, has worked with her since January 2006, when he became a canine officer with the ODPS.

“She’s an amazing dog,” Wise said. “She has searched out drugs, tracked a purse snatcher, found evidence that a burglar discarded. Everything she was trained to do, she has done with me.”

Wise also received training to work effectively with Kayla. He was trained to be attentive to the changes in her demeanor and body postures.

“My training taught me to pay attention to her when she’s on a trail,” Wise said. “Being attentive to her reactions when she’s tracking tells me whether she is on a scent.”

Wise was honored in May in Florence, where he participated in that city’s Buc-A-Cup Easter Seals Benefit. He received a trophy for best overall first response vehicle, which is equipped with all the things a first responder needs to be effective on the scene of an emergency.

“You see, public safety handles everything,” Wise said. “We have to do whatever is needed.”

Wise said the vehicle was judged on the equipment for fire, first aid and, sometimes, Kayla. “It depends on the emergency as to whether Kayla is on the vehicle,” he said.

For Wise, the most enjoyable thing about working with Kayla is her loyalty. “She never says ’no’ when it’s time to work,” he said. “She’s a different dog when she’s working. She’s no play when she’s at work. If I leave for work without her, she whines. These dogs develop a real bond with you.”

Along with Kayla, ODPS has two other canines in its service, Rico and Blazer. Each dog is assigned to a specific officer so that the natural bond will develop between the dogs and their handlers.

At the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office, Nitro is the star canine. His handler, Sgt. Rick Combs, who has been with the OCSO canine program for several years, sings the praises of the four-year-old Redbone Bloodhound and is quick to relate the stories of Nitro’s captures and recoveries.

“Each capture is unique, but the most satisfying capture for me was the one where Nitro tracked an armed robber right to his front door,” Combs said. “A counselor in the Eutawville school system was robbed one morning in her yard at gunpoint. When we got on the scene, she showed me where she last saw the robber, and I took Nitro to the spot and he picked up the scent. He tracked the guy right to his front door, and we established him as the suspect.”

In another emergency, Combs said an elderly man was missing. He got the pillow that he slept on and presented it to Nitro. He picked up the scent and tracked the man down in less than an hour.

“Dogs can pick up scents from blood, feces, urine and saliva,” Combs said. “Those are called exotic scents. But what a dog generally tracks from is a person’s skin cells, which we shed all the time. Each person’s scent is indicative of the individual. Sometimes, we don’t have a sample scent to give him, and that’s when I have to do what is called ’casting.’ You just take the dog out and allow him to pick up whatever scent he finds.”

Combs trained Nitro himself. The average training for a tracking dog is 12 to 18 months, he said. He likes to get the dogs at about eight weeks old. “The earlier, the better. But you can work with them older if they come from good bloodlines,” Combs said.

Nitro has been in service to the OCSO for three years, and Combs has handled him from the first day the canine came to the OCSO. Like Kayla and Wise at ODPS, Combs and Nitro have developed a bond of trust.

“The fact that you have a dog for a partner almost automatically makes for a close-knit team,” Combs said. “You’ve got to trust each other because tracking is one of the most dangerous jobs in law enforcement. You might be tracking an armed suspect in the woods. He can hear you coming, and you don’t really know where he is. He has the chance to get ready for you. And all you can do is be alert at all times. That’s why most law enforcement officers don’t like going in the woods after suspects.”

Along with Nitro, the kennel at the OCSO is home to Maggie, a two-and-a-half-year-old Bloodhound, two puppies that are being trained and Doll, the matriarch, who is retired after more than seven years of service.

Satisfied with his job and his partner, Combs said, “You’ve got to love what you do. Nobody is in law enforcement for the money. We love having the chance to help people.

“If you’ve got an elderly person who has wandered away from their home or a bad guy that has committed a crime, it’s rewarding to take that elderly person back to his family or to tell the victim of the bad guy that we’ve got him. He’s in custody. That’s what we feel as deputies. I think the dogs feel it, too.”

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