Cushing Police Sgt. Tully Folden and Nando already have become pals.

Cushing Police Department has four new feet to pound the pavement. But only one new officer.
Nando, a German shepherd, has filled a void on the CPD, Chief Terry Brannon announced. Nando joined the police rank and file after spending two weeks in training with CPD Sgt. Tully Folden.
“We hit it off right from the start,” Folden said of the man-dog relationship borne on the grounds of Worldwide Canine Inc., a 15-acre canine training facility outside Spring Branch, Texas, about 30 miles north of San Antonio. “He is very handler-protective.”
Folden and Nando are now a team for the CPD and will help the department battle illegal drug activity, Brannon said.
“Nando is a welcome addition to the department,” Brannon said. “I am very appreciative of the efforts of the city council and City Manager Steve Spears. Without their support, Nando would not have become a reality for the police department and community.
“I am very appreciative of their support of our efforts to suppress illegal drug activity in Cushing.”
Cushing has gone about 18 months, Folden said, without a “drug dog” on its force. The department’s most recent canine officer, “P.D.,” was retired after losing his right front leg to cancer and slowing to a non-workable pace, Folden said.
“He’s 13 and, without the leg, has slowed a lot,” Folden said. “We retired him and the give and take of getting a replacement caused the delay.”
Both P.D. and Nando live with the Folden family.
Nando, Folden said, is a no-nonsense police officer.
“He has a fun side with me,” Folden said, “but with pretty much everybody else, he is all business. He has a high drive.
“My wife can pet him but he keeps a close eye on just about everybody.”
Many breeds — shepherds, Labradors, golden retrievers, Belgian malinois, giant schnauzers — are used as police and protection dogs, Folden said. He prefers shepherds, he said, because of their ability and desire to be good police officers.
Nando is 20 months old and proved himself worthy, Folden said, during on-the-job training exercises in Texas.
“We ran all the cells in the Guadalupe County jail,” Folden said. “We ran all the apartments in a couple of half-way houses in Austin and the returning students in the Gary Job Corps School.
“He did very well.”
The two-week stint in Texas included training for both Nando and Folden. Part of the training included learning vocal commands given in Czechoslavakian, Folden said.
“I basically went through the handlers’ course with him,” Folden said. “I learned canine first aid and he and I worked together on tracking and narcotics detection.
“I think he is a great addition for the city of Cushing.”
And a tax-free one, Brannon said.
He was purchased with monies seized during drug busts. “The work of past and present members of the police department has helped make this newest K-9 parter possible.”