Editor's note: This week on Today’s Morning News and KTVB.COM, KTVB is presenting the series "Dogs with Jobs," featuring the furry friends that work alongside Idahoans in many different ways.
Rosco is a Belgian Malinois who loves to play. But for this dog, playtime comes after a day filled with hard work as a K9 for Boise Police.
"The great thing about these dogs is, all of our dogs are sad when we go to work and they have to wait for us to get home, these dogs get to jump in the car and get to go to work. It's a great environment for the dog, a really good life for them,” said Boise Police K9 Sgt. Kirk Rush.
Rush explains that to get to the Elite level, K9's like Rosco do a lot of training.
"It's pretty extensive, we train every week, 4,5,6 hours a week and these guys train on their own daily," said Rush.
One of the many tasks Rosco trains for is using his acute sense of smell to find drugs.
While KTVB visited Boise Police to learn about Rosco's role with the department, he was actually called out to a scene.
So, we went along.
Rosco was called out to search a car at a Boise traffic stop on suspicion of drug possession.
"With drugs we search wherever is needed, homes, vehicles, busses, anywhere we are requested for drugs, those dogs are able to search for it," said Rush.
Rosco is a narcotics certified K9 who's an expert at sniffing out drugs.
When Rosco finds the scent, he sits and won't budge until he is rewarded.
After Rosco alerted on the car at the traffic stop, officers found marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Officers also found that one of the suspects had a pipe in her pocket and the contents of the pipe tested presumptive positive for methamphetamine.
With Rosco's help Two suspects were arrested and booked into the Ada County Jail.
After a long day, like all hard-working employees, Rosco loves to relax when he gets home.
"They are a house dog at home, they live inside the house. the family feeds them, pets them. These are great dogs, some of the dogs sleep up on the bed with some of the handlers just like your dog might," said Rush.
But after too long, Rosco is already itching to jump back into action.
“Everywhere we go, people love these dogs. We love getting them out and having the public see them," said Rush.