NEW YORK - Call it Pup and Circumstance.

Graduation day for the newest members of the NYPD - 15 police dogs that completed training at the city's Police Academy.

As part of the ceremony, each dog was named after a fallen city police officer or firefighter.

Canine Valle honors transit police detective George Caccavale, who was shot dead in 1976 while working off-duty at a check-cashing store, providing security.

His daughter Carla Caccavale was just 20 days old at the time.

"It is not just a name on a wall. This is something living and breathing and doing the job that my dad set out to do," she said.

Caccavale attended the graduation with her four children. She said they've welcomed Canine Valle and his handler, Officer Paul Rivera, into their family.

"They go out as a team of three. It is Officer Rivera, its Valle and it is my dad together it is just a tremendous tremendous honor," she added.

Among the graduates, four Belgian Malinois - the same breed as the military service dog celebrated for taking part in the raid in Syria last weekend that killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State terror group.

But no matter the breed, the bond between handler and canine is what matters the most.

"He means a lot to me and the fact that we are out here now protecting out city that we love so much is amazing. It is an amazing feeling to have him as a partner," said NYPD Sergeant Brenda Graham.

The dogs are true partners of their handlers in every sense of the word -- they go home with them and they are off on the same days, too.