The Hopatcong police department's bloodhound has a home away from home.

And a borough teen has achieved his goal.

Stephen Duncan, 17, built a kennel at the department for Detective Mike Luciani's K-9, Roscoe, over the winter. The project gave Duncan the Boy Scouts greatest honor—an Eagle Scout badge.

Duncan, a member of Troop 91, said he had dreamed of earning the award for more than a decade.

"I've always known about it from when I started [Boy Scouts] when I was little," said Duncan, whose father, Bob, helps run the troop. "An Eagle Scout came into one of our meetings when I was probably about 10 years old and I knew I really wanted to be like him really bad."

Duncan said he award, which he received April 16 after 242 hours of work, left him speechless.

"I don't know how to explain it," he said.

Luciani said Duncan performed the lion's share of the project's work, which was funded by the 2011 Hudson Farm Charity Hike and finished around January. Participants helped raise $6,813 for 7-year-old Rosco with the walk.

"He did pretty much most of it," Luciani said.

Luciani said Rosco stays at the kennel while Luciani works so the officer doesn't have to run home before getting the dog for emergencies. Rosco underwent emergency surgery in November to correct bloat, or when a excessive gas causes a dog's stomach to expand.

"He's doing well," Luciani said. "We've been on a bunch of calls for the town and th state police call a lot for missing people and stuff. We're out there working."

Duncan said he hopes the Eagle Scout honor helps him when applying to colleges and that he'd like to be a mechanical engineer someday. Duncan said he was thankful for the help of his father, Troop 91, Luciani and the Hopatcong Department of Public Works.