4A • July 3, 2015 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
Meet Gunner, the city’s K-9 goodwill ambassador
G
unner, the Cannon Beach
K-9, made a public ap-
pearance Tuesday, June
16, and demonstrated why he is
so valuable to local law enforce-
ment. The 2-year-old, 75-pound
chocolate Labrador retriever
is specially trained to sniff out
methamphetamine, cocaine and
heroin, and in the future there are
plans for him to receive training
in search and rescue. With these
skills, Gunner could prove an as-
set to police rescuing lost hikers,
children or older adults who go
missing.
The police department’s K-9
program aims to deter crime,
locate lost or injured people, lo-
cate and seize illegal narcotics,
and perform positive community
relations through canine demon-
strations, like this one.
A display of Gunner’s training
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non Beach police department
event, “Burger With a Cop.”
Chief Jason Schermerhorn per-
sonally manned the grill. Guests
then strolled from Cannon Beach
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house, where in the driveway
and secluded in a police vehicle,
Gunner was being kept quiet, in
preparation for the demo.
Chief Schermerhorn intro-
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Josh Gregory, while the dog re-
mained offstage.
Gregory thanked the crowd
and those who assisted with
training and donations. Consid-
ered the Cannon Beach Police
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Gunner has been trained to
identify and locate metham-
phetamine, heroin, and cocaine.
Gregory spoke to the audience
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training. “No marijuana,” he
said. “We saw that coming down
the pipeline just as everybody
did. We said ‘Hey, we don’t need
to do that.’ He’d get retired ear-
ly.”
Gregory said Gunner has
what is called a “passive alert.”
“Some dogs have an ag-
gressive alert,” Gregory said.
“They’ll go scratch at the odor,
and usually the dog’s going to
pick what he’s going to do. Gun-
ner will go up to the odor, he’ll
source the odor, and you can
watch where he’ll bracket back
C ANNON S HOTS
By
R.J.
MARX
Along with drug
searches, Gunner
will be trained for
search and rescue
operations.
and forth. He’s in odor, then he’s
out of it. He stiffens up, he takes
different breaths, becomes more
active, and works toward the
source. and then will very excit-
edly say, ‘Look, it’s right here,
Dad!’
True to form, Gunner’s move-
ments traced a path around the
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place to place as he sought out
the hidden cache of drugs, plant-
ed for the demonstration. As he
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warded with his favorite doggie
toy.
He executed this training not
once, but twice.
While the toy is satisfying
for Gunner, Gregory said it’s
praise that really motivates his
partner. “He wants to know he
is accepted by me and he has
made me happy; as any dog
owner knows, I’ll just get down
there and love on him, and he’s
excited about that. That’s more
his reward than the toy.”
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west Police Detection Dog As-
sociation March 3. Gregory said
the association focuses specif-
ically on drug searches, rather
than patrolling or tracking.
The learning never stops.
Gregory continues to receive
advancedtraining through the
Pacific Northwest Police Detec-
tion Dog Association. “Maybe
I’m having an issue with Gun-
ner,” Gregory said. “Maybe he’s
Uncorked Ramblings
R.J. MARX PHOTO
Offi cer Josh Gregory demonstrates the skills of his K-9 partner Gunner, Tuesday, June 16 at the fi rehouse.
doing something unusual. I can
call somebody on the phone and
say, ‘Hey this is what my dog’s
doing? Have you ever faced this
situation?’ And they’ll be right
on top of it. Someone’s going to
have experienced that situation
as well, and this is how they
fixed it.”
Along with drug search-
es, Gunner will be trained for
search and rescue operations. “If
there’s a missing person, an Alz-
heimer’s patient or an overdue
hiker at Ecola, we’re going to be
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Gregory said. “That’s our future.
First we want to get a good year
of drug work together, get over
some of those bumps, those hic-
cups that might occur.
Gregory said he anticipates
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“before he retires out and gets to
be lazy all day.”
“I’m proud of this and I hope
everyone else is,” Gregory said.
‘We work as a
great team. I know
what I’m doing
and he knows
what he’s doing.
That is everything
we want from our
dog. He just makes
me look good.’
Offi cer Josh Gregory
“The interagency development
that’s going on together all the
way to Astoria is huge here. Ev-
eryone works so well together,
and it’s great for the community.
We work as a great team. I know
what I’m doing and he knows
what he’s doing. That is every-
thing we want from our dog. He
just makes me look good.”
The community was urged
to keep the program properly
funded. Implementing a police
canine into the program can cost
approximately $25,000, which
covers the cost of the dog, train-
ing, veterinary care, food, hous-
ing, a police canine kit, handler
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cations for the canine. All dona-
tions are tax deductible and are
accepted at the Cannon Beach
Police Department and Cannon
Beach City Hall. For more in-
formation, contact Chief Jason
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ry at 503-436-2811.
At the close of the event, Gun-
ner, his work over for the eve-
ning, interacted with the public.
Everyone wanted to talk to him
and pet him. Gunner is turning
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drugs, but is also fast becoming
one of the city’s most inviting
goodwill ambassadors.
STEVEN SINKLER
Crisp whites, rosés and bubbly to enhance the summer
Sunny days and busy
streets tell me that sum-
mer has arrived in Cannon
Beach. This is my favorite
time of the year as Maryann
and I sit on our deck almost
every evening and enjoy
fresh fruit and greens from
the Farmers Market with
something off the grill. And
wine of course! As the days
get warmer, my wine picks
tend to get lighter.
So much is made about
pairing the proper wine
with your food that we of-
ten forget that the wine has
to pair with the temperature
as well. If it’s 90 degrees
outside and you’re already
sweating, a big glass of
cabernet sauvignon will
only contribute to your dis-
comfort. Instead, a crisp,
cool glass of white wine or
rosé is refreshing. But, as
I write these words, I can
almost feel them ricochet
off the foreheads of readers
who proudly exclaim they
only drink red wine.
Here are a couple of
local wines to get you
and your friends happily
through summer.
You know I like spar-
kling wine! What better way
to say hello to sunny skies
or a beautiful sunset than
a crisp, cold glass of bub-
bly? Oregon wineries are
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er Nature has blessed them
with perfect conditions to
make sparkling wine. Sokol
Blosser Sparkling Evolution
is a Wine Shack favorite and
a bottle of this should al-
ways be in your collection.
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of apricot, apple and pear.
Made from Sokol Blosser
White Evolution wine, this
sparkler goes nicely with
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desserts and a sunny beach.
Personally, I chill sparkling
wine as cold as I can get it.
Also, the new thing for spar-
kling wine is to ditch the
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instead, enjoy the bubbly in
Boac’s Bird Notes
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My next summer pick is
a rosé. This should come as
no surprise if you’ve read this
column over the past three
years. “Drink Pink” is one of
my summer mottos and I real-
ly try to live up to this. When
it comes to rosé, my pick this
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I know this is a shameless
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STEVEN SINKLER
wine has won gold med-
als at both the Oregon Wine
a regular wine glass. Which- Awards and Savor Northwest
ever glass you use, bubbly is Wine Competitions this year.
always welcome!
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I know that pinot gris is of Class” at Savor Northwest
a great summer wine, but and was just named a “Top
I’m choosing a pinot blanc Rosé” pick by the Ore-
instead. J Scott pinot blanc JRQ:LQH3UHVV3XI¿Q
GHOLYHUV ÀDYRUV RI SLQHDS Rosé delivers delicious
ple and pear, with a crisp strawberry, citrus and
minerality that has more UKXEDUE ÀDYRUV ZLWK
structure than its pinot gris a crisp acidity. Rosé
relative. Made by Jonathan is a crowd pleaser
Oberlander in Eugene, this and pairs with
wine is a favorite of mine a wide va-
and is a perfect seafood/ riety of
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pinot blanc would be a per- f r o m
salads and tacos to burgers
and salmon.
My summer pinot noir
pick is White Rose “Black
Thorn.” White Rose, in the
Dundee Hills, has established
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noir producers in the state.
Black Thorn, made from
estate fruit, is a new release
from White Rose. This me-
dium-bodied wine is packed
with cherry and black pepper
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salmon or grilled pizza, this is
a great wine for you.
My last summer wine pick
is a red from Pudding River
Wine Cellars in Salem. Sean
Driggers is one
of my favorite
Oregon wine-
makers and
The
Wine
Shack car-
ries every
wine we can
get from Pud-
ding River. If
you enjoy a
nice grilled
rib eye, then Pudding River
malbec is right for you. Re-
leased about a month ago, this
malbec offers notes of blue-
berry, plum and pepper, with
an earthiness that makes it a
great wine for grilled foods,
including barbecue. My em-
ployee, Lee Roberts, gave me
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and told me that we had to put
this wine on the shelves. He
was right.
So there you go. Your
summer wine list is set and
all of the bases are covered.
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wines (and many more)
at The Wine Shack. And,
while you’re at The Shack,
don’t forget to wander over
to our new store, Provisions
124 to pick up a bottle of
Joe’s Bigfoot Barbecue
Sauce. This will spice up
your pulled pork or your
grilled chicken. If you’re
really brave, try Joe’s Mari-
onberry/Habanero sauce.
Have a great summer
and drink responsibly.
SUSAN BOAC
Th e sounds of the season: Baby birds are everywhere
Babies, babies, babies!
Are you enjoying the baby
birds as much as I am this
season?
It’s not hard to enjoy
the sights and sounds of
the parenting process. On
my deck in the morning, I
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ter their wings and appear
to shake all over as a sig-
nal to the parent that they
are hungry and ready to
eat!
On a sunny Sunday
morning, I witnessed a
Steller’s jay in the back-
yard tree answer the yearn-
ings of its offspring from
the neighbor’s tree. Then,
in swooped the youngster
for a transfer of food. Of-
ten the young look larger
than the parent as was the
case in this scene.
Everywhere, I also
see busy parents collect-
ing food for nestlings
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rookery across the creek
is busy with adults coming
and going with food for
the fast maturing broods.
Neal Maine dropped off
some pictures of the nests
and one has three babies in
it!
We have lots of goslings
and ducklings in the creek.
We have tree swallows in a
birdhouse for the third year
straight. Chestnut-backed
chickadees have taken up
residence in the bluebird
house we put up across the
creek. And watching the
SUSAN BOAC
red-tail hawks teaching
their youngsters how to
hunt from the power poles
is hours of entertainment
as well.
I was walking around
the Cannon Beach Lagoon
Trail last week and I saw
the most adorable fami-
several days on the ground
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fore make easy marks
for our domestic hunters.
Please consider this for
May through July.
Susan has spent her life
enjoying the great out-
doors from the lakes and
woods of northern Minne-
sota, Mt. Adams in Wash-
ington and now the Ore-
gon beach environs. After
SUSAN BOAC PHOTO spending many pleasur-
Red-breasted mergansers taking a swim.
able hours driving her avid
birder parents around, she
ly. These are red-breasted SUHHQLQJ²JRWWDWDNHFDUH has taken up birding as a
passion, to the mixed emo-
mergansers. I watched as of those feathers!
they tootled around the
Reminder: This is the tions of her husband Scott.
pond. Their polka dots time of year that keeping The Boacs reside on the
are just so cute! Then the cats indoors would help Neawanna Creek in Sea-
whole family got out of the bird population im- side where their backyard
the water and did a little mensely. Fledglings spend is a birder’s paradise.