Vail Magazine (mid winter/spring 2009 issue) publish an article by Joy Overbeck called “A Dog’s Life, The Hard Working Canines of the Vail Valley.” In this article Overbeck includes a write up on Officer Ryan Millbern and his canine partner Star who was trained here at Highland Canine and donated to the Vail Police Department. Star is doing great so we thought we would share all their accomplishments as a team so far.

The Vail Police Department’s Canine Officer, Ryan Millbern, has a Belgian Malinois-German Shepherd mix called Star who brings a similiar enthusiasm to her job as a tracking and narcotics detection dog. In 28 narcotics arrests last year, Star’s expert nose, not the human officers, found the drugs hidden in the home or car, according to Millbern. A few years ago, the officer was trolling the internet for a dog he could work with at a price the VPD could afford, but a well-trained police dog often costs up to $15,000.00 an impossible figure. He cam across the website run by dog-trainers Jason and Erin Purgason who own Highland Canine Training in North Carolina, and read about Star, a “second chance” hard-luck case that the couple had taken in after an abused puppyhood.

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