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There’s a new top dog at the Saskatoon Police Service.
Taffy – a nearly three-year-old golden retriever new to the city after her successful completion of the Jordan Detection K9’s Electronic Storage Detection program in Indianapolis, Indiana – has joined the police force’s Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit as its newest recruit.
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The canine has been trained to sniff out electronic devices when police execute search warrants by detecting the chemical compound commonly found in electronics like cell phones, USBs, hard drives, SD cards and laptops. Information found on electronics like these can aid in child exploitation cases, explained Tim Failler, a staff sergeant with the ICE unit.
“Digital evidence plays a significant role in Internet child exploitation investigations, and even the smallest device can hold thousands of images, videos and messages,” Failler said.
Taffy’s role in these investigations is to be a sort of living quality control system, in order to help make sure investigators don’t miss any potential evidence at a scene.
“Maybe we as humans miss something,” said Taffy’s handler, detective sergeant Bryon Sommacal.
Taffy receives her Saskatoon Police Service badge from Tim Failler, staff sargeant, alongside her handler, detective sergeant Bryon Sommacal, on March 20, 2026. (Libby Gray/650 CKOM)
“I might look at a bookcase and look at books and… pull a couple of them out or flip through them. I could very easily miss something where we bring her in after the fact and she just makes sure we haven’t missed anything.”
He said the dog joining the team means human searchers are also working harder than ever.
“Guys on their search teams have definitely stepped up their game, because they don’t want to be shown up by the furry search partner,” Sommacal joked.
Failler said the searches where Taffy is involved do tend to go quickly, because her canine senses can help clear rooms quickly.
In an increasingly digital world where most homes have lots of electronics, Failler said officers will be selective in where they instruct Taffy to search to help focus in on hard-to-search areas.
“I don’t think we’ve ever had Taffy really search a living room,” Failler said, noting that televisions aren’t usually something police are targeting in these investigations.
“It’s more hidden, covert items that we’re interested in,” he shared.
Basements with lots of boxes and storage areas are among those places where Taffy might be especially helpful. Failler said the dog can minimize some of the invasiveness of police searches to a certain degree, though officers will still search in depth whenever necessary.
“In one of the searches, I can say Taffy was able to locate a phone that we didn’t know was there, so that was very helpful,” Failler said.
Taffy is trained to sniff out electronics that Saskatoon police might be seeking when executing a search warrant for the ICE unit. (Libby Gray/650 CKOM)
In a test situation, Taffy located a small USB in a duffel bag. The device was removed, and when searching the room a second time, Taffy once again hit on the duffel bag, indicating her ability to sense even the places electronics recently occupied.
“I was quite sold and impressed on that when I saw that,” Failler said.
Taffy was given a badge on Friday at Saskatoon police headquarters
The announcement of Taffy’s recruitment, according to Failler, is the first of its kind for the police force. Taffy began her police work in Saskatoon earlier in 2026.
All of the costs associated with Taffy’s training and work are covered through OUR Rescue, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting law-enforcement agencies’ work in human trafficking and child exploitation.
While she’s trained on a food reward system, Failler said Taffy’s considerable treat budget will not cut into the police’s funding.
In addition to her search work, the dog is also trained as a deep therapy support dog for crime victims and police employees. Her work as a triple threat has already been witnessed in her short time on the force. She has been present in about five search warrant executions, comforted a child victim during an interview with investigators and recently supported police employees after the recent passing of a colleague.
“Having her around the office has been nice for the investigators for stress relief,” Failler shared.
As for Taffy’s own stress levels, Sommacal said much of her work feels like play time. The food rewards she receives, and getting to go seek out items, can be positive experiences for her, and in her off hours Taffy gets to visit officers and staff members around police headquarters.
Originally trained to be a seeing-eye dog, Taffy was not successful because she could not be fully harness trained. Sommacal said she still likes to pull at her leash. Her retraining as a police dog was a better fit, given her frequent desire to sniff the scents around her, according to Sommacal.
SPS K9, Taffy, with handler, Saskatoon police detective sergeant Bryon Sommacol, at Saskatoon Police Service headquarters on March 20, 2026. (Libby Gray/650 CKOM)
Taffy was one of 23 dogs to complete the Internet training in her class in Indiana. She is now one of eight dog teams in Canada, and the only golden retriever. English labs are the other breed frequently for this work. She’s also the first dog in Saskatchewan trained to locate electronic devices in Internet child exploitation cases.
Ontario, Toronto, Peel, Durham, Thunder Bay, York, Ottawa and Winnipeg all have these teams, with Victoria set to participate in the training course this spring.
“It’s spreading,” Sommacal said, noting that the RCMP has also apparently signed on to participate.
Taffy can also travel to participate in searches throughout Saskatchewan as a Saskatoon police representative.
Sommacal said dogs trained like Taffy spent about three to six months training in Indiana before their handlers arrive, with the dogs getting used to the compound where they’re detecting the electronics. Trainers then go down to be introduced to the dogs, bond with them and learn how to conduct searches.
When it comes to bonding, Sommacal said it’s similar to pet ownership, but with lots of work to keep Taffy’s training up to date.
“We have, obviously, so many exercises we have to do in a day, and she is part of our family here at work, plus at home,” Sommacal said.
He said he travelled to Indiana for the course on Nov. 1, and met Taffy the day before the course began.
“She’s been with me ever since,” Sommacal said. “We’re still trying to figure each other out… it’s just a continuing learning curve.”
