Troopers Connor Sutton and Chris Roberts graduated on June 20 with their respective dogs, Skiff and Kelley, who are both named after troopers lost in the line of duty: John Kelley, who died in 1960, and James Skiff, who died in 1920. All four met more than five months ago at the Academy of Canine Training and Behavioral Management in Cooperstown.

Roberts traveled down from his job in Ray Brook. He said he had worked with someone who was in a K-9 unit previously, and after seeing that man and his dog work, he knew he wanted to alter his life and career path to do the same.

Sutton was an investigator in the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation but said he always wanted to be in the K-9 unit.

“It was always a career goal of mine,” Sutton said.

Kelly, a Belgian Malinois (Enterprise photo — Kevin Shea)

Skiff and Kelley traveled from farther away. Both are Belgian Malinois, bought from dog breeders in the Netherlands and brought to the U.S.

It was a Tuesday night, the second night, Sutton and Roberts say they met their dogs. Since then they have been inseparable.

Kelly is 13 months old, and Skiff just turned 14 months. Already they have spent close to half their lives with their human trainers.

For both troopers, this new job goes well into the night. The dogs sleep in their rooms and are constantly by their side. After constant contact for five months, Skiff and Kelley are trained in detection, tracking, handler protection, obedience and building searches. They gained more than an education. Both built a relationship on a personal level.

The training was extensive, however.

“It’s a process for both of us,” Roberts said.

Sutton and Roberts said keeping up with their dogs was somewhat of a challenge. This dog breed that excels in shepherding is packed with energy, but is also obedient and smart, they said.

“It’s a high-speed, top-of-the-line dog,” Sutton said.

Both said what they enjoyed most was seeing how their dogs progressed. Roberts said he enjoyed “watching us grow as a team.”

“It’s like seeing your kids grow and progress,” Sutton said.

Now the two teams are covering separate parts of the North Country. Sutton and Skiff will work closer to Ogdensburg, and Roberts and Kelley will work around Plattsburgh.

Both teams are working eight-hour shifts but soon will work 12-hour shifts like all other troopers. Each vehicle they are given has a back designed for each dog. It comes with a water bowl and an alarm that goes off if the car gets too hot.

K-9 units typically come in two types, narcotics dogs or bomb-sniffing dogs, according to Roberts. Both Skiff and Kelley are narcotics dogs. They will also respond to calls where there is a barricaded subject, when a building needs to be searched, or when there is a fugitive on the run, a lost child or a lost hiker.