Noro

Noro and I attended the Chicago Police Canine Unit Training
Academy on March 28, 2015. After a few weeks of training, all handlers were allowed to pick 3 dogs for their dream list. Noro was the first dog on my list and I was lucky enough to be partnered up with him. I picked Noro because he seemed most challenging and to be frank, he scared me. Noro and I were eager to learn and graduated as a dual purpose canine from the academy at the top of our class. Noro was selected to perform a scent work demonstration at the graduation ceremony due to his reliability.

Upon graduation, Noro and I conducted narcotic sniffs, building/offender searches and article searches for a variety of Chicago Police units. About a year after graduation, I noticed Noro’s face and head appeared to be swollen. A biopsy was performed which confirmed Noro suffered from autoimmune disease and masticatory myositis. This disease causes muscle atrophy and there was a concern about how much muscle was lost. Due to this concern, Noro was taken off bite work and became a single purpose narcotics canine. Noro also suffered from a corneal ulcer which resulted in a graft being put over his right eye. The graft corrected the corneal ulcer but caused blindness in his eye. Even though he was partially blind, Noro still was able to work and adapted to his restrictive vision. Noro also has irritable bowel syndrome which causes frequent diarrhea and an occasional upset stomach. He is given metronidazole as needed and requires a prescription diet.

Noro excelled at narcotics and truly enjoyed working. The amount of excitement he displayed before conducting a sniff was amazing. I had confidence in his ability and admired his focus and discipline. It was enjoyable watching Noro work and his ability to problem solve. Over Noro’s career, he assisted in seizing narcotics, narcotics related money and article searches for items related to a crime. In one incident, there was a carjacking that turned into a police pursuit. The offenders fled the scene and were later apprehended by the responding units. The officers handling the case were unable to locate the keys to the cars and ask for a canine to assist. Noro and I responded, and were given the direction of flight by the offenders. I deployed Noro to conduct an article search and after several blocks of searching, Noro pulled me to a vacant lot which was adjacent to the offender’s flight path. Noro’s pattern began to narrow before he sat down and stared at a set of car keys on the ground which matched the vehicle taken by carjacking. I was and am a proud handler of Noro. He never stopped impressing me with his ability and determination. I will send Noro’s awards in a separate email.

Noro has always enjoyed being a family dog and playing in the yard with his toys. As a retired canine, Noro enjoys car rides, traveling, long walks, going to the park and most of all swimming. It’s sad to leave him at home when I go to work but everytime I come home he and I are so happy to see each other. Noro is constantly given love and affection as he deserves.