FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii – In the administration office of the K-9 520th Military Police Detachment is the familiar site of Sgt. Stacey Collins a military dog handler and her partner, Army military working dog Hugo. As she sits at her desk working on administrative paperwork, Hugo lays next to her, relaxed.

“I like to spoil him and give him his toy. This is his enjoyment; this is his happiness,” said Collins holding a chew toy. “Hugo is not overly serious; he’s pretty laid back. He and I will play fight, but he’s never bit me.”

Looking at Collins and Hugo, there is no doubt that they are inseparable, but there was a time when they struggled to understand each other.

After a tour in the Middle East as a mechanized infantry Soldier, she contemplated her future in the Army. She wanted to continue wearing the uniform, but they physicality of the infantry was taking a toll on her body, and she began looking at different military occupational specialties.

“K-9 handler was one of those rare jobs, so when it popped up, I took it as soon as I could,” said Collins.

Collins attended the Basic Military Police Course at the U.S. Army Military Police School in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. There the Army teaches the basics of being a military police Soldier. Following graduation, she went to Military Working Dog Handler Course at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, where she learned how to perform duties as a military working dog handler.

When Collins told her sister, Angela Collins, that she was changing jobs to work with dogs, Angela felt it was the perfect fit.

“She is a super independent and hard-working woman; she doesn’t give up very easily,” said Angela Collins. “She is super kind but also straightforward. She is always willing to lend a hand or help in any way possible. We were around dogs growing up but couldn’t have one until we were older.”

True to form, Collins got a dog as soon as she could when she adopted Apollo an American pit bull terrier. The relationship she had with Apollo was in stark contrast to her initial relationship with Hugo. Although they were both very obedient, Hugo tried her patience and required precise commands.

On Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, nestled in its own area is a large fenced-in park called the obedience yard where obstacles adorn the green grass and dogs run freely, but most importantly, train with their handlers. It’s also where Collins and Hugo are typically found when they’re not patrolling the base.

When Collins partnered with Hugo upon arriving to the 8th Military Police Brigade, 8th Theater Sustainment Command, Hugo was seven years old and knew the ropes of his job. Collins on the other hand, had only worked with the military working dogs during her initial training in Texas.

The dogs at Lackland Air Force Base were easy to work with because they do the same thing every training cycle. They know exactly what to do to get rewarded. They know the routine, so they anticipate everything, said Collins.

Collins would take Hugo out of his enclosure, commonly referred to as a “run,” and walk him out to the obedience yard and train with him. While doing exercises, Collins would call Hugo back to correct him on a mistake. Hugo, sensing the frustration, would run away or hide in the tunnel.

As a noncommissioned officer, she felt disappointed because she wasn’t building the connection she wanted and would often leave work going home frustrated with herself.

“Dang, is this the right job? I like my dog. So, it’s like I suck, everything sucks,” said Collins.

It was hard being a noncommissioned officer and seeing junior Soldiers excel with their dogs, but she remembered that they had been drilling and training with their K-9 for months and in some cases years to build those relationships.

She excelled in her previous role in the infantry, so as she struggled to form the relationship she needed with Hugo, it heavily weighed on her. Collins reached out to her peers to better understand what worked for them. Taking the feedback they gave her, she applied the techniques with Hugo, but the results were slow to come.

Months passed and the connection still wasn’t there. Furthermore, Collins attended multiple military training schools, prolonging the necessary time to forge a bond. However, the more Collins learned, the more confident and comfortable she became, her relationship with Hugo began to turn.

“A favorite moment of any trainer or kennel master is that light bulb moment where the key competencies in a dog training becomes fully realized by the dog team,” said Army Sgt. 1st Class Edward Chase, military working dog kennel master for the 8th MP Brigade, 8th TSC. “Watching this light bulb turn on after many frustrating long nights of training is my favorite part of this career. Over several months, she earned Hugo’s trust and gained a newfound confidence in his abilities to work for her.”

“Hugo is sweet, he’s calm, but at the end of the day, he is a military asset too,” said Collins. “So, I have to be able to rely on him, and if he’s not going to listen to me, potentially, that could be endangering to my life as well as his. So, I would be doing both of us a disservice when I don’t correct him. As much as I hate being the bad guy sometimes, it’s for his safety as well as my safety.”

After many months of training, Collins and Hugo went to take the handler team certification test. Each newly paired handler and their dog must undergo a certification to ensure they can properly work as an effective team. The test is for both the handler and the dog to determine their ability to detect and work as a team in a controlled, timed environment. Collins and Hugo passed the course on Dec. 1, 2023.

Recently, on one of their first missions in the field, Hugo caught odor, and in that moment, she really felt like they were a team. She felt like they had come so far.

The author reached out to Hugo for comment, but he was preoccupied training and chewing on his toy for comments.