"They went through this car like you wouldn't believe (and) couldn't find anything; there was just plain nothing in the car at all, other than the gun that they had found under the seat," said Boline.

That's when Blitz, the police-commissioned German shepherd assigned to Boline, was sent in.

Blitz began alerting the officers of a drug presence somewhere in the vehicle. Boline noticed the bed of the truck had new paint and discovered it was actually a false floor. The real bed was two or three inches underneath; this vehicle was used to transport drugs, and testing swabs confirmed there was indeed cocaine residue in the hidden compartment.

Only there were no drugs in the truck that night.

"That just shows how strong Blitz's nose is. He was able to alert on drugs that had been transported in the past in this thing," Boline said.

Boline has been a K-9 handler for Fullerton PD since June of 2008. Work is work for him, and play is play. When not patrolling, Blitz goes to his kennel in Boline's home. Staying outside of the house ensures that Blitz stays a duty dog, as opposed to being a household pet.

For the job, Boline and Blitz went through a 400-hour training course with Work Dogs International.

"It's not to train the officer how to do police work, and it's not to train the dog how to do K-9 work, because the dog is already trained, and the officer is already trained, but they have to work together," Boline said.

But it's not work for Blitz in the same sense that Boline thinks of it.

"When I say play, for us, we call it work. But for the dog it's play. When you do dope searches, tracking, finding people, whatever it may be, it's all play for the dog because at the end he gets a reward, usually playing tug of war with a piece of hose or something like that," Boline said.

The same rules apply when Blitz has to apprehend a suspect.

"It's basically the same thing; it's a game for the dogs, they're not aggressive man eaters, they don't want to go out and just hurt people," Boline said.

Blitz may only be playing, but to Boline, being on patrol together means having a partner in a city where most patrol cars carry only a single officer.

"It's an awesome feeling. Everywhere you go, he's watching you. It doesn't matter what you're doing. He can be dead tired, it can be two in the morning, he's worked all day long, if you're out of that car doing something, he's sitting up in the back seat, and his ears are up, and he's just locked on," Boline said.

As critical as the patrol dogs are to Fullerton PD, the city can only afford so many, as they can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000, according to Boline.

In October 2010, Fullerton PD sent out a press release saying that "Officer" Jager, one of only two patrol dogs commissioned, had retired, and that a fund had been set up to accept donations for his replacement. Boline helped the cause by giving demonstrations with Blitz, and generous donations led to the purchase of a new dog, currently being trained with a Fullerton PD officer.

Blitz is trained to respond only to Boline, which means he'll have to take a break for a few weeks since Boline has suffered an injury that is keeping him from work.

"It is a big hit to the agency," said Corporal Tim Kandler, who was a K-9 handler from 2004 to 2007.

In this type of case, when Fullerton PD does need a dog and its owner is unable to work, surrounding cities provide mutual aid, said Kandler.

Boline has been called to Anaheim, Placentia, Brea, La Habra and Buena Park when dogs in those cities were unavailable.

"I'd say they're needed every night; we should always have them out there," Boline said. "It's just a tool to keep us safe, keep the citizens safe, keep everybody safe, even keep the suspects safe."

But when it comes to K-9 officers, the handlers have the final say in whether the dog should be used or not. They're given the trust to judge when the dogs will be useful.

"I know my dog, and I know what he's capable of, and I know what he's going to do in certain situations," Boline said.

Although patrol dogs are not pets for the officers, the emotional bond is inevitable.

"As far as the relationship between the handler and the dog, it is not a personal dog or a family dog. But there's still a great bond there. You still pet the dog and praise the dog a lot, just like you would a family dog," said Kandler.

And although K-9 handlers have to keep that work relationship, the dogs do have to retire at some point in their lives.

"They just want to be rewarded, and they want to be loved. That's why dogs are so cool, they just don't ask for anything but your love and a little affection. That's what keeps them going."