Author: Meredith Hemphill
On March 14, at the Bob Barker Retreat along the Cape Fear River, North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement graduated its first female K-9 handlers, Special Agents Megan Scherbekow and Blythe Watson. These groundbreaking women have each put in 350 hours of training with their K-9s and have both dreamed of being K-9 handlers since they were children.
Scherbekow is a first-time K-9 handler, but her K-9, a black lab named Still, is well-experienced. Still put his sniffing savvy on display for the audience at graduation. Each dog was given the opportunity to demonstrate their skills by investigating a line of bags. The dogs are rewarded for a job well done with a favorite toy. Scherbekow explained that the dogs choose the toy that will be their reward. Still appeared thoroughly pleased with his choice of a blue Kong toy on a rope.
Watson and her partner, a chocolate lab named Whiskey, won the Gold Collar Award at graduation for the hard work they’ve put in to get Whiskey ready for the job. “Very hyper” was how Watson described Whiskey’s temperament, but she succeeded in channeling that energy into the job.
“I’m excited about giving back to my community, being able to go out there and pull these narcotics off the street, locate missing children or missing adults,” Watson said. “I’m just excited to get out there and work and show the agency and the community what we are capable of.”
Scherbekow and Watson hope that their work as handlers will inspire other women to follow in their footsteps.
“When a little girl or a teenage girl sees us out, I want them to be able to look at us and say, ‘I want to be like them one day.’ And with having a dog, it just builds those relationships a lot easier because everybody loves dogs,” Scherbekow said.
At the end of a long day, Scherbekow and Watson take Still and Whiskey home with them to be part of the family. Watson has two additional dogs and a cat. Scherbekow has a poodle plus a flock of chickens and turkeys. Still is a tough guy at work, but at home, Scherbekow reports that the poodle is the boss.
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