Hudson– The new Hudson police department dog, Magnus, has made a big entry as a 3-year-old black Labrador Retriever.
He is partnered with Officer Cameron O’Toole. Magnus is in training for explosives and firearms detection, while also being a community service dog like Murf. His old job was a seeing-eye-dog, but he sniffed around too much, leading people the wrong way.
After six police officers were interviewed to be Magnus’ partner, Officer O’Toole was the lucky officer to be partnered with Magnus. He is happy to bring his new partner home to meet his wife, kids, and his 2 other dogs, Poppi and Ace. Poppi is a year-old Great Dane, and Ace is a 7-year-old Viszla. They all really enjoy Magnus’s company; he is the perfect new addition to the family.
“I’ve had dogs my whole life. When this came about, it was kind of like, I jumped all over it, just cause it was an opportunity to work with dogs,” O’Toole said.
O’Toole is excited to go to many upcoming community events with Magnus. He and Magnus will be doing much more like working, the Boston Marathon, FIFA World Cup games, and a lot of the upcoming concerts at Gillette Stadium, including many more things outside of Hudson.
Magnus recently took the ATF NORT test, which he passed.
The second one he just took is the NESPAC K9 test on April 9th. He did an outstanding job and passed that one as well. He will now be out on patrol responding to calls as needed.
“The big part of it is, as a handler, you also have to be calm and collected, as well, cause if I’m nervous, he’s gonna be nervous. The dog senses that.” O’Toole Said.
Magnus is a bomb-detection dog trained to find up to 40 different types of bomb scents. Not only is he a bomb detection dog, but he can also do firearm relay, if there was something that needed to be found or shell casings from a bullet.
“People don’t really understand, people will say, because he is a bomb detection dog. Some people will say, Oh, well, how many bombs do we have in Hudson? Well, that’s not really the point. The point is that we now have the resources to do that if we do have a situation that calls for them.” Said O’Toole.
Magnus and O’Toole are excited to be able to help other towns in the state. Magnus will be a part of the SWAT team K-19 unit. Helping surrounding towns in the case of a big emergency.
O’Toole is excited for many great moments to come, but so far, his most valuable moments have been working through hardships together at training.
“Even though he’s just a dog, I have the ability to, read him and how he’s acting, and I have to adjust how I’m acting based on that.” O’Toole said.
Magnus is now O’Toole’s daughter’s new best friend. His crate is in his oldest daughter’s room, so every night they head off to bed together.
“My daily life changed a little bit, but for the better.” O’Toole said.
