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Lobo, an 18-month-old German shepherd, bounded into the room and gnawed happily on a rubber ball as his handler, police officer Ruben Ramirez addressed the crowd Tuesday night.

“It’s a lot like raising a kid,” he said of his K-9 partner. “He’s got a great nose and I drag behind him while he does all the work.” Lobo is the latest K-9 to join the police force. He was purchased from Von Grunheide Shepherds in Snohomish and introduced to the public during Tuesday night’s Centralia City Council meeting. He and Ramirez recently passed all phases of the general police patrol team certification by the Washington State Police Ca- nine Association last month in Lynnwood.

Canine certification requires a minimum of 400 hours training and success- ful completion and testing in five phases of police control work, including obedience protection and control, area and building searches and tracking.