After the park closes, here they come. Sheriff’s Deputies with their K-9 partners arrive at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park/ Buccaneer Bay to have some fun and gain critical skills on Tuesday Aug. 22, 2017. Law enforcement teams from Hernando as well as surrounding counties participate each year. On Tuesday, 20 to 25 handlers and their K-9 partners participated in the training exercises.
Fun is part of it, but the training has a serious objective explains Brandon Cox, a deputy and head trainer in Hernando County, “Today’s event is to get the dogs used to their surrounding environment, not to hesitate to jump into the water- to go after the bad guy.”
The dogs are trained in different environmental situations, that a normal dog would never experience, explained Deputy Cox. Also this gives the dogs a chance to be around other K-9’s and to unwind from their everyday work load.
The K-9’s will be active on the force, until they are 8 to 8 ½ years old and their handlers have the opportunity to adopt them at retirement. All ages were involved in the Aug. 22, 2017 event. Two bloodhound trackers which were just over a year old were also in attendance. The young bloodhounds only took part in water fun.
“Everything that is done with the dogs is always fun. It’s just like a human being, if it’s not fun they won’t want to perform, we always do positive training with them,” said Deputy Cox.
After water time with their handlers, it was time for ‘the sleeve.’ Handler and K-9 swim out to the dock together. They have to learn to climb up ladders, and when command is given; to dive into the water towards the person that is wearing the sleeve. Once he reaches the bad guy, he attacks and again on command the K-9 will let go.
You could tell who were the veterans of the group. Some of these K-9 veterans had a better looking dive than their handlers. The less experienced K-9’s weren’t sure if they wanted to jump into the water. Their handler jumped in and they followed. Some of the more hestitant were carried into the water to the dock. This is what the training is about though- getting these K-9’s prepared for any situation including 72 degree water.
At the end of training, it’s BBQ time. These dogs are great to watch in action and you could tell that their handlers care for them.