Behind the Badge: Charleston Co. K9 goes from the shelter to patrol

News 4 is taking viewers Behind the Badge, and introducing them to the men and women of the Lowcountry who keep us safe.

Today's officer is a new K-9 with the Charleston County Sheriff's Office.

What makes her special is that this K-9 officer didn't come from a breeder, in fact, she's a rescue from a Lowcountry animal shelter.

"Maggie is very high energy,' says Sgt. Matthew Anderson. "She'll jump on you and all she wants to do is please; she wants to do whatever we ask her for. She's like a Malinois in a shepherd's body. She's 100 miles an hour all the time. But she's a lot of fun. She's super sweet."'

READ MORE | Hanahan Police participating in no shave November to boost men's health awareness

Maggie didn't always spend her days playing fetch and training to find explosive devices.

"She'll be the second explosive dog in the county," says Sgt. Anderson. "She'll be going around the polls coming up very soon. She'll be going around to those and large events and sweeping, just make sure they're safe for us to go to."

Maggie, now accustomed to a working life, used to spend her days at Dorchester Paws.

"She came in as a stray. We don't know how long that she had been left uncared for. Just judging from the condition of her fur and her coat, she had been on her own for a bit," says Katrina Tokay with Dorchester Paws. "Maggie came in about the middle of May. So, she was with us for about a month and a half. She had a lot of hair loss. She needed to gain a substantial amount of weight."

READ MORE |Berkeley County Sheriff's Office sergeant killed in Monday morning hit-and-run

The staff knew right away Maggie would be more than your average pet.

"When we put her into play with dogs, she was more preoccupied with grabbing pinecones, sticks, anything to play fetch with. So, so we knew from the jump that she had a purpose," Tokay says.

Normally law enforcement K-9's come from vendors or breeders, however, the sheriff's office wanted to do something different when they went to find their next dog.

"We went around and again partnered with Dorchester Paws and they said, 'Hey, we have a dog you might be interested in', so we drove up there and here, here we go," says Sgt. Anderson.

READ MORE |Dr. Roland Camacho named as next Police Chief of North Charleston

Maggie was adopted and went through rigorous training to become an explosives K-9.

"She loved playing fetch, but we call it mouth breathing. She liked to breathe through her mouth and just find things visually and just find the ball. So, it took us maybe about a full month of hiding that toy and things and getting her to understand I can use that nose to find what I'm looking for. Once she turned that nose on, she was wide open and ready to go.," Sgt. Anderson says.

She's the first rescue dog with the sheriff's office that's gone from living on the streets to patrolling them.

"This is a huge one where everyone and benefits, especially the dog who we always have at heart. So neighbors helping neighbors is amazing. We love to see how much she's grown with them," Tokay says. ",It's just a great story for her and for us to see that progression from kind of a sickly dog that is on the progression up to this full work time dog that is out serving the county is outstanding," Sgt. Anderson says.