MONROE — He’s a playful pup, until he’s directed to pursue.
The Police Department’s new tracker K-9 Tango already has a few captures in his first few weeks on the road with his partner, Officer Jason Southard. One was sniffed out of some blackberry bushes in Marysville, and another was tracked down off of Woods Creek Road.
K-9 tracker units are called to apprehend felons and serious criminals, such as in domestic violence cases. Often, just declaring there’s a K-9 can compel someone to surrender, Southard said.
Tracking K-9s also are used for search and rescue operations.
For those who think they can dodge a tracker K-9, be forewarned: Up to one-third of a dog’s brain is wired for scenting.
This is not a dance partner criminals want to encounter.
But when the pressure’s off, Tango is happy to jump up to give a hug.
“I’ve never seen one this cuddly,” Officer Travis Block said.
Tango replaces K-9 Nuke, who died young around Christmastime 2017 from an incurable intestinal disease. He joins Monroe’s drug K-9s, Lexi and Sam.
The Monroe Rotary club raised $10,000 to cover buying Tango from a police dog breeder, and has committed to help fund the department’s K-9 program. A service group called Keeping K9s in Kevlar raised additional money to buy Tango a Kevlar suit and bulletproof vest.
Now 21 months old, Tango, a German shepherd dog, went through 400 hours of training together with two new German shepherd K-9s for Lynnwood Police, Rico and Kiro.
In training exercises, Block and Monroe Officer Hannah Snavely hid to be hunted, and took plenty of soft bites and takedown tackles while wearing bodysuits.
“We’re tapping into their drive to go do the work, whether it’s hide-and-seek or tug of war,” said Lynnwood’s K-9 Unit Supervisor, Sgt. Joe Dickinson, who’s paired with Kiro.
To a dog, locating someone is trained like a game.
Tail-wagging K-9s naturally give friendly public relations for police departments, but they also are assets in dealing with suspects, Dickinson said.
The dogs live at home as part of the officers’ families.
The K-9 officers are grateful for their colleagues’ willingness to be subjected as exercise dummies.
Block’s participated in many years of these exercises. He gave sort of a grinning shrug when asked if he likes being bit so often, but said it gives him good insights into the teams as he would like to be paired with a K-9 someday.
Tango, like many K-9s, visits kids’ groups and has people wanting to pet him at the annual National Night Out. “I couldn’t be more pleased with him,” Southard said. “He’s a really nice dog.”
