Yoda, a four-year-old Belgian Malinois, was instrumental in capturing escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante last week after a 12-day manhunt.

As Cavalcante attempted to crawl through underbrush, armed with a rifle, Yoda was released to pursue him. Yoda bit Cavalcante on the forehead and then latched onto his thigh and wouldn’t let go. It gave law enforcement time to catch up to Cavalcante and take him into custody.

Yoda’s heroics also brought attention to dogs trained to help law enforcement.

On The Spark Monday, Patrick Fitzgerald, owner of Keystone K-9 Services in Pottstown said dogs as early as eight or nine weeks are candidates to be trained,"There are some pretty big kennels across the country, private breeders who strictly sell military and police canines. But pretty much, right around that 8 to 9 week mark. The breeders, the trainers, they're going in there looking to see what dogs have the best nerves, the strongest drive, the most tenacity, the ones with very high food drive and toy drive."

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