He's 3 years old. He weighs 78 pounds. And he stands about 2 1/2 feet tall -- when he's on all fours.
Dobber is his name, and K-9 duty is his game.
The State Police on Monday introduced Dobber, a German shepherd named in memory of Trooper Kevin P. Dobson, who died exactly one year earlier after being struck by a vehicle while on duty.
"Today we remember and honor our friend, Trooper Kevin Dobson," Maj. Christopher L. Cummings, Troop A commander, said in opening a chilly news conference outside the State Police barracks in Clarence.
Naming a new K-9 dog for a fallen trooper is a State Police tradition, all to keep the trooper's memory alive.
"For the troopers who worked closely with Kevin, we have another connection that he's still on the road with them," Cummings later explained. "That's comforting for them. It somehow helps fill the void created by the loss of Kevin."
Colleagues, other close friends and family members all braved the 36-degree temperatures to meet Dobber and pay homage to his namesake.
Dobson was fatally injured at about 7:25 a.m. last March 26, when he was struck by an eastbound pickup on the Youngmann Highway. State police have said the pickup entered the eastbound Youngmann from the Colvin on-ramp before striking Dobson as he wrote a ticket on the highway's shoulder.
One year later, a new Dobber appears in the State Police ranks.
"Oh my gosh," said Dobson's 16-year-old daughter, Jamie. "It was so exciting. He's so cute. I just want to take him home."
Jamie, a junior at Sacred Heart Academy, was thrilled that so many people still keep her father's memory alive.
"It just shows how much he has done," she said. "It helps with the grieving, to know that he made a difference."
The new Dobber was a little camera-shy Monday, apparently excited by all the lenses aimed his way.
Jamie got a kick out of that.
"Dobber has my dad's personality," she said. "He doesn't like being in the spotlight. He's modest."
Trooper Sean Pierce, Dobber's new partner in the Holland area who worked with Dobson on various details, also sees some similarities between the two, including Dobber doing what he wants and enjoying life so much.
"I'm just honored to name him in honor of our friend," he said.
The new K-9 dog is just one of many tributes to Dobson.
The State Police annual traffic-safety award now bears Dobson's name. A handsome plaque, including his patrol car's license plate and his shield, hangs in the State Police barracks. Memorials grace the crash site. Enforcement efforts for the state's Move Over Law have been stepped up. And some troopers wear a small bar paying tribute to him.
But the most poignant tribute might be the least public, a piece of cloth still hanging from the trooper's almost untouched locker in the Clarence barracks.
It's a garish yellow clown's tie, with red, green and blue polka dots. Dobson occasionally wore the tie to work, and his best friend, Trooper John G. Betker Jr., held up the tie at his buddy's funeral.
A supervisor, or so the story goes, had complained that troopers weren't wearing ties.
"He wants me to wear a tie, I'll wear a tie," Betker recalled Dobson having said.
Fellow troopers now see that tie every day.
"I walk through here, and it gives me a twinkle in my eye and a chuckle, thinking about Kevin," Lt. Kevin M. Barnas said. "I think about the levity and humor he used to bring to the station every day."
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