Boomer, the Brazilian bomb-sniffing dog, joins the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office

The principal at Cardinal Newman High School received a call in March 2015 that a bomb would detonate at the high school in an hour, not enough time for a bomb-sniffing dog to arrive from San Francisco to sweep the Santa Rosa school.

Had there been a bomb, it would have been too late to defuse before it exploded.

“That was the tipping point,” said Sonoma County Sheriff’s Deputy Ken Williams. “That was when we knew we had to have our own bomb dog.”

Nearly two years later, Boomer the Brazilian bomb dog had his first shift on the force, giving the Sheriff’s Office an immediate response to bomb threats. The county still relies on bomb dogs from San Francisco and Alameda counties for sweeps of large areas.

Boomer is unique for a police dog. The 2-year-old is a tail-wagging, friendly golden retriever, one of only two Williams said he has seen in law enforcement.

“We wanted a friendly and approachable dog that could also be used for community outreach,” said Williams, who is Boomer’s handler. “Any dog with a good nose that wants to work makes a good police dog. It’s hard to get both.”

Boomer joins nine other dogs - Dutch Shepherds, Belgian Malinoises and mixed breeds - trained for other purposes at the Sheriff’s Office: three at the main office, three on the coast, one at the Windsor Police Department, one at the Sonoma Police Department and another at Sonoma County Jail, said Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Spencer Crum.

K-9 units at the Sheriff’s Office have an annual budget of $58,000; part of those funds are to purchase a new dog every year as dogs age out of regular duty. Boomer cost $8,000 to purchase and an additional $5,000 for training.

Dogs serve various purpose at the Sheriff’s Office, with most cross-trained to sniff out narcotics, and find and apprehend suspects, Crum said.

“On the coast, where deputies’ backup can be over an hour away, they are trained in handler protection as they are the deputies’ primary backup,” Crum said.

Boomer, on the other hand, has no training in apprehension or handler protection, and therefore no coaching in attacking and biting, making him safe with children and the general public, Williams said.

The dog routinely checks the Sonoma County Airport for explosives and sweeps the Sonoma Raceway before events. Boomer also checked downtown Petaluma for explosives before the Butter & Egg Days Parade in April.

Williams also takes Boomer into schools. Just last week Boomer had a dozen elementary students crawling over him, Williams noted, something most police dogs wouldn’t tolerate.

Narcotic-sniffing dogs typically have a nose for cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines. Bomb dogs have to be trained for dozens of scents from military, commercial and improvised explosives.

“He has no idea what he’s smelling, he just knows the scent,” Williams said with a chuckle. “If he did I don’t think he’d want to do it.”

You can reach Staff Writer Nick Rahaim at 707-521-5203.