Oregon County, MO. – To bring awareness to law enforcement and their special partners, Ozark Radio News has started a Back the Blue K9 Edition. We have already posted articles on Ozark, Douglas, and Howell Counties. This past week we had the Oregon County Sheriff’s Department stop by to share with us what their K9 does. Deputy Austin Combs came in and talked about Oregon County’s only K9, K9 Amul.
The Oregon County Sheriff’s Department only has one K9 working for them, but they do have three different K9s working in Oregon County. They have K9 Amul, a German Shepherd, who works in the Sheriff’s Department. K9 Tank is a dog working in the Thayer School District within Oregon County. K9 Roady is a new K9 working in the Thayer Police Department. Listen below, for the full description.
K9 Tank had originally been a part of the Thayer Police force but was transitioned to the school after the Marijuana law was passed. They then used a grant to purchase K9 Roady. Deputy Combs explains further below:
Austin Combs described K9 Amul as super laid back and chill but that he knows how to get his work done. He went on to say that the first thing Amul will do when he gets to work in the morning is say hello to everyone and get pets from the Sheriff. K9 Amul is a dual-purpose dog, meaning he both tracks and sniffs out drugs. K9s can be trained in only one or the other. Listen below, for more detail on Amul’s personality.
All other counties were asked about the number of bites their K9s have. Deputy Combs stated that Amul does not have any bites, explaining that normally, when the situation gets far enough for them to bring out a K9, the individual being chased gives in. Listen below for more:
Last week, Ozark Radio News was invited to attend a training camp of sorts for all the K9s around the area. there were seven different departments there retraining or updating the K9s certificates. Deputy Combs stated that K9s are required to recertify every year and have at least 16 hours of training a week, whether it be obedience training or some other sort of training. Listen below for more:
Each K9 handler must also go through training before they can be on the job with their partner. The handlers must attend the same training camp as their dogs to learn the behavior, signals, and language of the dogs they will be commanding on the job. Listen below for the whole handler training rundown.
Did you know that a K9 dog can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000? This all depends on the training, where they came from, and where they are going. Listen below to hear Deputy Combs explain.
Just like people, K9s have to eventually retire from their jobs, but different dogs retire at different times. It could depend on their age, if they were injured, if the dog decides they are done working, and more. It can even depend on what breed of dog it is. Deputy Combs stated that German shepherds usually have to retire earlier due to strains on their hips, going on to state that Belgian Malinois can work more years on the job than most other dogs. Listen below for more:
Deputy Austin Combs is not the first handler that K9 Amul has been with. Amul used to have another K9 before Combs. Combs stated that when making a transition, the level of difficulty will change depending on the dog. K9 Amul was really easy, Combs stated. He went on to say that the only problem he had was Amul trying to decide if he wanted to listen to his new handler or not. Listen below for more explanation.
