A K-9 the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office received Saturday has already been beneficial to the department, according to a patrol deputy and K-9 handler.

“He has already succeeded in what the sheriff is looking for: a positive relationship with the community,” said Patrol Deputy Glen Strom of Stalker, a K-9 who arrived from Slovakia. “He’s extremely intelligent, and he’s bonding with his handler very well.”

As Stalker’s handler, Strom oversees the K-9 both at work and at home.

Stalker will fill areas of need for the Sheriff’s Office, including drug interdiction work on the interstate, helping the Sheriff’s Office locate missing people, tracking and apprehending criminals and protecting law enforcement officers.

Strom said Stalker is important to the Sheriff’s Office.

“Law enforcement is an extremely dangerous profession, and when we can’t afford to keep supplementing our manpower we need to implement tools to help us be successful and keep us safe,” Strom said.

Stalker, a 66-pound German shepherd, was named in honor of Corey Goodnature, a chief warrant officer in the U.S. Army who was killed in action June 28, 2005. Goodnature and 15 others were in a MH-47 Chinook helicopter, responding to the call of a team of Navy SEALS that had come under intense fire in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan. All of the others in the helicopter also died, along with all but one of the SEALS they had attempted to rescue.

Stalker was purchased through Performance Kennels Inc., a Minnesota-based organization that aims to supply and train police dogs.

Stalker will be trained in the next few months, including a four-week narcotics detection class in February and a 10-week patrol course in April.

A 21-month-old, the dog should be ready for duty in the summer.

The Sheriff’s Office has had two other K-9s, including one in the late 1990s and Chaos, a K-9 who was with the department from 2004-12.

The Freeborn County Board of Commissioners last month unanimously approved the implementation of a K-9 program.