Carson K-9s lead the way at annual challenge

Carson City’s second annual K-9 unit challenge was held Oct. 21 at Fuji Park and brought 37 K-9 teams from 12 agencies throughout Northern Nevada and California, according to a Carson City Sheriff’s Office news release.

“The Carson City Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit competed in three of the four events and is proud to claim the title of top performing agency overall with a total of four podium finishes and six total rankings in the top five for those events,” CCSO said. “Most notably for the narcotics detection event, Deputy Tripp with K-9 Cash finished in first place, and Deputy Kepler with K-9 Camper finished in second place.

“For the agility event, Deputy Pullen with K-9 Blue finished second, and Deputy Simpson with K-9 Ben finished third. Deputy Kepler with K-9 Camper also placed fourth in agility, and Deputy Etchegaray with K-9 Braum placed fifth in patrol.”

The dog teams competed in four events including drug detection, explosive detection, agility and suspect apprehension.

“Further in the spirit of regional training, networking and the sharing of ideas, several agencies took lead in orchestrating the specific competition events,” according to CCSO. “The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office designed the patrol event scenario, Pyramid Lake Tribal hosted the narcotics detection scenario, Nevada State Police hosted the explosives detection scenario and the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office designed the agility course event.”

K9 teams from Lyon, Douglas and Washoe counties, as well as Capitol Police and Reno Police Department, all performed strongly, CCSO said.

“Lyon County teams combined for three podium finishes, and Sgt. Galvin with K-9 Blady won the honor of top dog for individual performance, placing first in agility and fourth in narcotics,” said the release.

“We hope you all enjoyed the show, and we appreciate the immense support the Carson City community, along with our neighboring agencies, continues to give to these incredible K-9 partners,” said CCSO.

RESULTS

Detection – Narcotics:

1st – K-9 Cash & Deputy Jon Tripp (CCSO)

2nd – K-9 Camper & Deputy Derrick Kepler (CCSO)

3rd – K-9 Brutus & Deputy Beau Tittensor (WCSO)

Detection – Explosives:

1st – K-9 Honey & Officer Kirk Stewart (Capitol Police)

2nd – K-9 Dingo & Officer Matt Lietz (RTA)

3rd – K-9 Bernie & Dan Austin (Lockhead)

Agility:

1st – K-9 Blady & Sergeant Matt Galvin (LCSO)

2nd – K-9 Pullen & Deputy Jeff Pullen (CCSO)

3rd – K-9 Ben & Deputy Nick Simpson (CCSO)

Apprehension:

1st – K-9 Boris & Sergeant Wayne Hawley (LCSO)

2nd – K-9 Blaze & Jeff Johnson (DCSO)

3rd – K-9 Kai & Deputy Ramiro Soukup (LCSO)

Top Dog: Sergeant Matt Galvin with K-9 Blady – Lyon County Sheriff’s Office

Top Agency: Carson City Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit

Honorable placing mentions include: Officer Jones with K-9 Drax (fourth place patrol) and Deputy Johnson with K-9 Blaze (fifth place narcotics).