Area K-9 teams take top honors at competition
Police dogs Baron and Karo are good at their jobs and they have the awards to prove it. Both K-9s with the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department, they took some top honors at the Gem State Police Dog Trials held recently in Idaho Falls.
The certification and competition trials brought together police dogs and their handlers from all over the state. About 90 teams got together for certification, said Kootenai County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Shaw who handles Karo (pronounced CAR-OH). Additionally, the dogs competed for awards.
Baron, handled by Deputy Keith Hutcheson, took first and second place in obstacles and obedience.
Karo took first place in “hardest hitting dog,” measuring how fast the dog can take down a suspect. “My dog’s probably a 35 mile-per-hour dog and he weighs 85 pounds,” Shaw said. “He’s like a linebacker.”
The dogs competed in numerous areas that they face on the job, such as how accurately and quickly they find narcotics, and their skill in patrol tasks like apprehension, courage, obedience and running obstacles. All the points are added together to arrive at the “top dog” score. Baron won second place in the top dog competition in a group of 38 competitors. He also took second last year.
The handlers set up scenarios for the dogs that they face on the job: dealing with multiple suspects, redirecting a dog from someone who appears to be a suspect but is not, calling them off a suspect, and engaging a suspect with a chain saw. In the latter, the dog practices on a person holding a chain saw motor, but with the blade removed.
The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department K-9 program was established around 1991. Three dogs — Enno, Aldo and Kak — have retired. Baron, a nine-year-old black and tan German Shepherd, will retire soon. Three-year-old Karo, a solid black German Shepherd, has a long career ahead of him. “He’s full of energy,” Shaw said. The department has a third dog, another German Shepherd named Chow.
The dogs are imported from overseas. Karo was born in Czech Republic, Baron in Slovakia. When the deputies get them, the dogs are trained in “the basics,” but have to be further trained in police work, Hutcheson said. During his career, Baron has probably caught 150 people, Hutcheson said. Karo, who’s been on the job for a year and half, has captured at least 24.
The animals are “bilingual.” When not working, the deputies speak to the animals in English. When they’re on the job, commands are given to the animals in Czech.
“It’s easier for us to learn the language than to re-teach the dog,” Hutcheson said. Plus the different language prevents suspects from issuing commands to the animals. “Last week we had a contact with a guy who was telling them heel,” he said.
Most of what the dogs do on the job is track people, said Hutcheson. They find evidence that’s discarded by suspects. The dogs can find a shell casing in a field at night.
“When they catch the guy later, (we’re) giving them the evidence to work with,” Hutcheson said
If they’re not working, the dogs act like pets. They play (and seem to particularly enjoy green tennis balls) and like to be petted. The instant a command is given, however, they visibly turn hyper-alert.
When they have downtime, the deputies practice with the animals, hiding things for the dogs to find. “You’re constantly working – they enjoy it so much,” Shaw said.