SPIRIT LAKE — There was something special about Lieke, a year-and-a-half-old Belgian Malinois that got her start in a local animal shelter.

“She had a natural drive in her,” said Corporal Joel Trefry with the Spirit Lake Police Department.

Ava Wion with Katka Working Dog Training, LLC, in Bonners Ferry saw Lieke’s potential and took her in. Lieke proved to be a natural working dog, Trefry said, and she was donated to SLPD.

Now, Lieke is wrapping up her training with Trefry and is expected to be certified as the department’s first narcotics detection dog by early fall.

The average cost of having a narcotics detection dog on a police force ranges from $14,000-$20,000, meaning smaller departments like SLPD often get priced out, Trefry said.

Made possible by Wion and other donations, Lieke will work alongside Trefry “to get drugs out of Spirit Lake.”

Narcotics are frequently passing through Spirit Lake, Trefry said, because the town is at a crossroads between Spokane to the west and Bonner County to the north, in addition to surrounding cities.

“Having a dog in the area will help the counties around us, too,” Trefry said.

Lieke will also live with Trefry, a first for the dog lover who has never had a dog in the home himself.

“I’m super excited about it,” Trefry said. “This was kind of my goal when getting into law enforcement, and with our limited budget, I wasn’t sure it was going to happen.”