SEATTLE - Seattle K-9 Officer Ian Polhemus and his police dog, Kaiser, have had a busy summer.

In June, they tracked a car thief hiding along the Duwamish River. They helped nab five juveniles suspected of breaking into a school, They sniffed out a domestic-violence suspect lugging $25,000 and more than three kilograms of cocaine.

But it was Kaiser's find last week that Polhemus is most proud of: the dog's powerful nose turned up a loaded 9 mm Ruger a suspect had tossed into the backyard of a Rainier Beach day care.

Without Kaiser's discovery, the gun could have been scooped up the next day by one of the several youngsters who play in the yard.

"I'd trade all those other cases for that one gun case," Pohemus said. "What 4-year-old is going to pick up a gun and not play with it?"