Brittany Kelley
KYLE — The Kyle Police Department just got a little cuter, a little cooler and a whole lot safer, as it welcomes Atlas, the agency’s first K9.
The initial idea stems back years, said — now K9 — officer Benton McClaran, but there were other priorities the department needed to focus on before implementing this. After securing funding for the fiscal year 2025-26 budget, Atlas officially joined the organization in June.
KPD leaned on local agencies that have their own K9 units, specifically the Austin Police Department, when beginning the program. McClaran noted that they took the advice to stay local when looking for a training organization to allow easy access, if any questions or help was needed in the future.
The decision to be a K9 officer was easy for McClaran: “I’ve always loved K9 officers and jobs. It’s a very proactive policing style and it’s a Jack-of-all-trades because it’s not just being a proactive police officer, you’ve got to do community outreach, [too].”
So, when the opportunity came to sign up, he was quick to reach out to K9 colleagues in other agencies to gain insight on the position and begin his training at Pacesetter K9 LLC.
According to the officer, Atlas is actually from another country — and speaks a different language to ensure others cannot command him — where several puppies are chosen based on their tenacity and intelligence to travel back to the United States and be trained for the police force. Each puppy is given a specialty that it is trained in, such as bombs, drugs, missing individuals and more. Atlas was trained in narcotics searches and search operations.
McClaran stated that a Kong toy was, and still currently is, used in his training. So, Atlas was originally searching for the Kong toy, until it was replaced with several drugs that KPD wanted him to be able to find in a search.
The K9 can also differentiate between residual odors and the physical drug itself, making his alerts appear only when the actual substance is found.
Regarding missing persons, McClaran explained that he can both do article tracking — which is when an item with an individual’s scent is used — and human scent. The latter is more difficult, said the officer, but it’s important because it teaches the dog to pick up the strongest scent and follow it, without getting distracted. For example, if a child wanders out of a house and heads into the woods and then, to a busy store, he stated that Atlas would be able to start at the house and pick up the strongest scent — the child — and track it through the woods and inside the store, despite all of the other human scents around him.
This training is meticulous and requires immense patience, said McClaran, joking that whatever patience a person may think they have will surely be tested when working with a dog.
He and Atlas have had to form a strong bond based on trust to ensure they can work together accurately and efficiently.
“It’s important that you take that extra time out [to bond]. So, I would take him out on walks, I’d get him out early [and] just go sit with him. I want him to be comfortable with me … Bonding is very important for you to understand your dog and vice versa for him to understand you,” he emphasized.
Additionally, he stated that, “It’s one of those jobs where it’s just baptism by fire. You can’t learn it in a room; You’ve got to be able to see the dog, smell the dog, watch his movements, see how he’s doing things.”
Their training officially lasted six weeks beginning in April, but will be continuous, said McClaran, as dogs need consistency to sharpen the tools they’ve learned. Just like humans, they have bad days, he shared, but more training means fewer mistakes.
KPD chose Atlas, due to his breed — Belgian shepherd — which is a combination of malinois and German shepherd, said McClaran. This is because they want the temperament and intelligence of a German shepherd, with the drive of a Malinois.
Similar to the distinct reasoning behind his breed, the officer thought long and hard about his name, as well.
“I love tradition. I love trying to make something. The Kyle Police Department has been really good to me and I want to try to set this program up as best as I can. My thought was eventually we have to get more dogs … So, I figured we’d start with the letter A and move our way down [the alphabet],” explained McClaran. “With the name Atlas, just the mythology, the fable of Atlas the Titan. He had the world on his shoulders; he held the world up and I think it’s symbolic for Atlas. He’s the first K9 we’ve got. He’s holding the city up and it’s important for him to make a good mark here.”
Continuing on the sentiment of Atlas’ impact, McClaran stated that he is going to make Kyle a safer community for both residents and officers. Atlas can use his human scent training to track offenders, as well. This means that officers on the scene can follow Atlas, rather than splitting up in a large area and decreasing their numbers, which in turn makes them more susceptible to being hurt.
Furthermore, the K9 can also further bridge the gap between the KPD and residents. McClaran hopes to do school visits to educate students on general safety for younger students and harder subjects, such as drug use, for those in high school.
Atlas hasn’t formally had his first day on the job, he said, as he wants to ensure the dog is fully ready. But when he begins his duties, his days will begin with a few hours of training and then, doing daily tasks with McClaran until they’re needed.
“It’s a force multiplier, so now officers can rely on us for narcotic searches. We’ve had trouble getting K9s available to our city. There’s so many people out there, so many agencies [that] getting somebody in here for a last minute search is hard. So, now we’re able to really cut down on time,” said the officer.
Although training Atlas has been intense, he revealed that he has never been happier: “All my friends are jealous because I got a new best friend.”
They even have a routine to wind down after a hard day's work: playing fetch for 30 minutes and then, sitting in a rocking chair — Atlas on McClaran — while they relax before having dinner and going to bed.
“It is difficult. It’s not easy. I don’t know that everyone can do it. You have to have that level of commitment to the city, to your job. You have to love what you do in order for you to love something else about it … but it’s been amazing,” McClaran concluded.
According to KPD Chief Jeff Barnett, the department will evaluate operational needs in the future when it comes to expanding the program.
To keep up with K9 officer McClaran and Atlas, follow KPD on Facebook at www.facebook.com/kylepolicedepartment.
