PORT ST. LUCIE— Officer Corey Krecic grew up dreaming about becoming a handler for a K-9 police officer one day.

On Sept. 5, Krecic's dreams came true when the Port St. Lucie Police Department adopted Jaxson, a 16-month-old sable German Shepherd from the Czech Republic, and assigned the dog to Krecic.

Monday the puppy and Krecic began their 3 1/2-month training to get Jaxson prepared for tracking people and finding narcotics.

Krecic was assigned to the team with a dog of his own after Colin Duncombe and his K-9 officer, Zoran, both retired from the unit. Duncombe was promoted to sergeant and moved to a different unit. Zoran is spending his retirement years at home with Duncombe.

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"He's (Zoran) pretty much like me," Duncombe said. "He has a wonderful personality and he's very loving."

Duncombe said after 16 years with the K-9 team, he felt like it was his time to pass on the baton.

"It's exciting to be able to have a partner that's a dog and to go out there and work within the city," he said.

Krecic, who has been with the Police Department since 2016, said for the last two years he spent his time off visiting and learning about the K-9 unit.

"I'm driven, and I can't just sit still," he said. "In this unit, you're going to every hot call and when you get on scene, everyone is looking at you to go find the man.

"With the help of Jax and our team, our unit will be able to find them."

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Training consists of Krecic and Jaxson completing 480 hours of patrolling and tracking as well as 120 hours of sniffing narcotics.

On Wednesday, Krecic and his dog worked on basic commands, as well as Jaxson learning his name.

The K-9 team is usually used to track burglars, missing children and narcotics.

The Police Department pays for the care of all five dogs on the K-9 team, such as food, veterinarian visits and annual health check-ups. Each dog lives with its handler.

Michael Colton, another K-9 handler who is part of the unit, said on average, the agency spends about $10,500 to buy each dog. The majority of the dogs were purchased in the Czech Republic where they are bred and trained slightly for police work.

"They know two things when they (K-9 officers) come to us," Colton said. "They know how to bite a sleeve and they know how to go search for a toy, whatever that toy may be."

Krecic said since he adopted Jaxson, who also goes by Jax, the dog has assimilated into his family easily and loves playing with Kong dog toys.

"Off duty, he's a puppy and he's hyper," he said. "Actually (Tuesday night) we worked him pretty good and did a lot of repetitions and when we got home, he finally was like 'oh' and he laid down by the patio."