YORK – Enlisted in the search for a daytime home intruder, a Berwick police dog named Baron now finds himself among the missing.

After apparently picking up a scent, the 4-year-old German shepherd pulled so hard that his 20-foot leash broke free from K-9 Officer Chad Allen’s grip Tuesday as they were searching a swampy thicket for the man who entered a woman’s bedroom at an apartment complex near U.S. 1.

Joining the York and Berwick police departments in the search were Maine State Police and about 30 members of New Hampshire and Massachusetts K-9 units and police departments.

“We are treating this search just like a person search,” said Warden Ron Cooper of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. “The dog is considered a police officer.”

Game wardens are responsible for initiating searches for lost people in their respective territories.

Cooper said the search for the dog could prove more difficult because, unlike humans, dogs will not necessarily follow a set pattern or direction of travel.

Police Sgt. Thomas Barman said the multistate effort came about because many trainers know each other and train their dogs together.

Baron, who came to the K-9 department in 2003, understands commands in both English and German.

The Berwick department purchased him with the help of donations from town residents.