There's a newcomer to Homestead High School, but he's 10 years younger than most incoming freshmen. Still, he has a beard. And he's going gray.

Hunter, a 4-year-old black Lab-rador retriever, starts his first day of school Wednesday with the rest of Homestead. He's a police dog patrolling for narcotics and firearms.

Homestead's Resource/Patrol Officer A.J. Pape presented the idea of full-time police dog for the school to the Southwest Allen County Schools board in March to supplement the district's No Alcohol No Drugs campaign. He has spent the last three months training with Hunter – a former hunting dog donated to the Allen County Sheriff's Department.

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