TUPPER LAKE – The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3120 will host a benefit dinner for the village police’s K-9 program Friday.

The K-9 program began as a cooperative effort between the village police department, the village Board of Trustees and local residents Tupper Lake Bridgette and Wayne LaPierre, who donated J.D., a German shepherd, to the department in December. Once he is fully trained, J.D. will assist the department with narcotics detection and tracking.

Typically, the largest cost associated with a K-9 unit is the cost of the dog, which can run up to $20,000, according to village police Chief Eric Proulx. But even though the LaPierres donated J.D., it will still cost the department about $5,000 to get the program up and running.

So far, the program has not cost the community’s taxpayers any money, and the benefit means to keep it that way by using the money raised to purchase equipment for J.D. and his handler, Patrolman Jordan Nason. He and J.D. will officially begin their training at a state police K-9 training facility in Cooperstown on May 16.

Proulx said most of the money raised Friday, about $3,350, will be used to convert the department’s Dodge Durango into a K-9 unit.

“I have to remove the back seat and install a cage system for the dog to ride in,” Proulx said. “We want to put in a climate control system in the cage for the dog, and we also want to install automatic door openers that are remotely controlled by Officer Nason. In the event that he is out and needs the dog, he can just push a button and the doors will open. The remote also keeps track of the climate system in the car. If it gets too hot or too cold, there will be an alarm that will go off on the (key) fob that he has which will alert him to either go to the car or open the door and let the dog out.”

The rest of the funds will be used to purchase kennels, tracking leads and harnesses, and new uniforms and duty gear for Nason that can handle the rigors of tracking in the Adirondack backcountry, along with other miscellaneous costs.

Nason has been living with J.D., who is just over a year old, for several months.

“I love the little guy,” he said. “He’s not so little anymore.

“Every time I come back to see him, he’s just so excited to see me. He’s just this ball of intense energy. Every time I open the door, it’s like this whirlwind. He’s like the (“Looney Toons” character) Tasmanian Devil. He can’t even contain himself, but I love it. It’s great.”

Nason and J.D. have been training with Wayne LaPierre, the coordinator of Search and Rescue of the Northern Adirondacks, during their free time, working on J.D.’s tracking skills.

“He seems to be picking it up fairly well,” Nason said. “All the different things you learn as far as how the scent can be affected by weather, whether it’s the wind or the temperature or moisture in the air, and then learning how the dog reacts to those different changes, it’s very interesting. It can be kind of intense.”

Proulx added that LaPierre “has no troubles with where the dog is in his training and his tracking skills.”

Nason said he looks forward to completing his training and beginning his partnership with J.D. in earnest.

“(J.D.) is a resource that you can’t get in any other way,” Nason said. “The dog just brings so much to the table as far as that scent detection.

“It allows you to have a deeper, a more in-depth investigation, but at the same time, essentially, you’re less invasive, if that makes sense. As far as walking around the outside of a vehicle, he’s going to know if there are drugs in there, versus if there is no dog, the only way that I can tell is if I, myself, go through that vehicle.”

Nason thanked the LaPierres and everyone who has already donated to the program.

“Personally, I’m very lucky to be in this position,” he said. “Not a lot of officers get to do this, and there have been plenty of guys before me just as qualified if not more qualified to do this, and I just had good timing on my part. I was lucky.”

He said J.D.’s energy and enthusiasm inspires him.

“From the time I open up his crate in the morning, it’s like he is just shot out of a cannon in the morning,” he said. “I brace for impact every time.

“That type of energy is his drive, his ambition to do things. If you had a dog that wasn’t as energetic, that might not want to do the job as much, they’d be more content with just kind of lounging around, but he is just go, go, go, go, go.

“The potential to get a lot more done is there. I know it won’t solve this drug problem that we have. It’s not the end-all, be-all answer, but it’s a really great tool to have in our arsenal.”

The dinner will consist of pork loin, mashed potatoes, gravy, a vegetable and a dessert. Dine-in and take-out will be available by calling 518-359-7107. Proulx has also set up a GoFundMe fundraising page at www.gofundme.com/2km9hnks for people who cannot make the dinner but still want to donate to the cause; that page has raised $1,180 as of this morning. Proulx said interested parties can also send a check to the department marked “K-9 program” in the memo field to P.O. Box 750, Tupper Lake, NY, 12986. Proulx also said he and Nason personally accept donations as well.

“I know the community supports (the program),” Proulx said. “I hope we have a good turnout for the dinner.”