While relaxing at his handler Dave Nevins’ home in Dowagiac, Faust is just like another housedog.

He loves to roam around the home and yard, play with the family’s children and welcome guests with an excited bark.

However, the moment Nevins suits up the Dutch shepherd in his uniform — a tan harness that proudly displays the word “sheriff” on its the flank — Faust’s usual jovial demeanor changes, as he prepares for another long night helping his partner protect the people of Cass County.

For the past 10 months, Nevins and Faust — the Cass County Sheriff’s Office K-9 — have been a dynamic duo. The dog has lent his unique talents to dozens of cases, using his impeccable nose to locate hidden drug caches inside suspect’s vehicles and track down people who have gone missing.

While he is normally calm and collected like his partner on the field, Faust has employed one of his other assets, his powerful bark, on several occasions as well, to deter otherwise dangerous suspects from inflicting violence on others, Nevins said.

“On six or seven occasions, I’ve had the opportunity to send Faust in for an apprehension, or ‘bite,’” Nevins said. “Every single person has surrendered as soon as I’ve given him [Faust] the command.”

Faust has not been the only member of the duo who has earned his stripes since they began working together on the field last July, though.

Nevins is a 12-year veteran of the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, joining the department from the ranks of the Cassopolis Police Department in 2005, he said. The native of Byron Center, Michigan, got into law enforcement just a few years earlier in 2003, after his brother — an officer with the Grand Rapids Police Department — inspired him to leave his factory job to being serving the public, Nevins said.

“I wanted to do something where I could work outside, and do something new everyday,” he said.

The officer has owned dogs for as far back as he can remember, raising beagles and other dog breeds to help him during hunts, Nevins said. Almost immediately after joining the sheriff’s office, he unsuccessfully applied to serve as the handler for the department’s newest K-9, GiGi, although being a fresh face at the time he expected the position to go to a more experienced officer, he said.

Following GiGi’s retirement from the sheriff’s office in 2014, the department leadership lacked any plans to replace the German shepherd — until an anonymous donor agreed to pay for a new K-9 in 2015. This time, Nevins was able to snag the job as handler, joining Capt. Tom Jacobs to select a new police dog from Blue Line Police K-9 in April.

Although he worked with several dogs at the facility, the moment Nevins met Faust — a 3-year-old Dutch shepherd born in Netherlands — he knew that was the canine he wanted as his new partner, Nevins said.

“There was no doubt in my mind,” he said. “We had a connection right off the bat.”

Nevins and Faust spent nearly 200 hours of training together, at K-9 schools in Grand Rapids, Lansing, Saginaw and at the department in Cassopolis, before they officially began duty in July.

Nevins and Faust work shifts on opposite days of that of the Dowagiac Police Department’s K-9 Tole and his handler, officer Kevin Roman, ensuring that the county has daily access to police dogs, Nevins said.

While the Dowagiac department mainly uses Tole to help locate drugs and other contraband during traffic stops, Faust is primarily called upon to locate missing people, be they children who ran away from home, elderly people with Alzheimer’s who wandered off or suspects who fled from a crime scene. Unlike the sheriff’s other track dog, Nellie the bloodhound, Faust has also been trained to use his fangs as well as his nose, making him the go-to animal to locate possibly violent individuals, Nevins said.

Like with any police dog, ultimately everything is a giant game for Faust. At the end of any successful task, Nevins lets Faust play with one of his favorite toys as a reward for his actions.

Besides his duties on the field, Faust plays another important role — as a public relations officer with the department. The K-9 and Nevins often appear at events around the community, giving the public the chance to meet the police dog and learn more about what he does to serve the county, Nevins said.

“Everybody loves a dog, especially a working one,” Nevins said. “When people see how well trained he is, it really impresses them.”

In regards to training, Faust and Nevins are never truly done learning, the officer said. They spend around 16 hours a month practicing alongside Roman and Tole, keeping the dogs’ skills sharp, even for tasks they do not normally perform, Nevins said.

At the end of another long night on the road, Faust and Nevins return home together. Since welcoming the K-9 to the home, Faust has grown attached to the Nevins clan, always keeping a protective eye on his handler’s wife and children, Nevins said.

“He’s another family member now,” Nevins said. “He goes everywhere with us.”