The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office welcomes Chop, the newest member of their K9 team. Chop was purchased through funding from the Sheriff’s Benevolent Posse’s Project Deputy Dog program. In his first few months on the job, he is off to a great start. Deputy Moore, a six-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office, is his handler. The two are stationed in South County but available to respond to calls countywide.  Chop was born in Germany and received his initial training at the Inglis Police Dog Academy in Oxnard.  Chop and Deputy Moore recently graduated from patrol school where they completed 200 hours of intense training. Chop is now trained in human scent detection, open area building searches, handler protection, and apprehension. Chop will eventually be trained in narcotics detection and hard surface tracking as well. If you would like to learn more about Project Deputy Dog and how you can support the Sheriff’s K-9 Unit, please go to www.sbsheriffsposse.org.