CORBIN CITY--Atlantic County's K-9 Academy has a new home, and the first class to go through there has just completed it's first week. Some of those going through the training are learning the ropes for the first time, while others are back again, with new partners.

"Get 'em hold...hold, good boy, hold." It may look intense, for both the dog and the trainer, but it's an important part in making sure the K9 is right for police work. "When a dog's making an apprehension, he can't be distracted from what he's doing," explained Joe Rodriguez, the Supervising K-9 Trainer at the academy, "if a dog's distracted, somebody could get injured that's standing on the sidelines or anything like that, so we make sure the dog's focused on what he's doing."

And one by one, the 16 dogs now in the John "Sonny" Burke K-9 Academy, proved, at least for now, they're up for the challenge. "They'll be learning everything from obedience, to scent work, building searches, criminal apprehension, and tracking, which is most important for us," explained Rodriguez.

Some of the officers going through the academy are here for the first time, like Millville police officer, Michael Calchi, and his dog Treu. "I've wanted to be in K-9 as long as I've wanted to be a cop," said the three-year veteran of the force, "it's just the most exciting part about being a police officer."

But some are here again, with new dogs. Sgt. Bill Bontcue with the Vineland Police Department is now training with his dog, Yoshi, a new partner, after losing his last one, Clif, in the line of duty. "It's tough," he said, about being there with his loyal friend and partner, "you know, we talked about it the other day, it's tough." Tough because of the bond they'll form over the next 15 weeks of training, and while they're out in the field, patrolling together.

But for now, they're still working on forming that bond, and learning the ropes in the new facility. The building, a former school, has sat empty for about half a decade and the K-9 Academy just started using it this month, and instructors say it's much better and bigger than the grounds they were using. "We went from about 800 sq. feet to about 6,000," said Rodriguez of the difference, "and from about 5 acres to about 84 acres."

While the facility is new, the training remains the same, and come this spring, the newest round of K-9 officers and their four-legged partners will be ready to hit the streets and take a bite out of crime.

We hope to follow this new class, the first to train at the facility, through their 16 weeks of training and will bring you updates on their progress periodically, as they work towards their May graduation.