Dr. Michael Havener, principal, came over the loud speaker at 9 a.m. Feb. 13 to tell KHS the day was finally here: “Dingo is coming.”

Havener, Officers Chad Walton and Jim Patterson, Michael Wade, senior principal, Levaughn Smart, coordinator of student safety and security and Dingo started their journey in the Northwest building. Students were instructed to put their backpacks, purses and coats in the hall where Dingo went down the line twice.

“He sniffs the bags twice because of possible wind,” Havener said. “The wind direction, even in a hallway, changes his scent. He can smell, obviously, through everything in your book bag. You’re not going to be able to cover it up with perfume, you’re not going to be able to cover it up with food. There are all these rumors where ‘I’m going to put doggie treats in my bag’ and stuff like that. [Dingo] is trying not to hit on that. So he’s obviously very good at what he does.”

According to Smart, it takes roughly a year to train a drug dog. Dingo is trained to bite a backpack, purse or coat when he smells drugs. Administrators then check the backpack to see if his lead was correct.

If students are caught, first offenders automatically receive 10 days of suspension and a counseling session, and police get involved, according to Havener. Additional offenses bring the possibility of longer suspension.

Havener declined to comment on how many, if any, drugs were discovered during the search today, but he said it was a good first run.

“This was definitely successful. My hope is we never find anything. But, unfortunately, we probably will have some at some point.”