Congratulations are in order for Putnam County Sheriff’s Office’s two K9 officers; both of whom earned awards at the 14th Annual South Georgia K9 Seminar, Nov. 13-16 in Perry.
The annual seminar, hosted by the Dooly County Sheriff’s Office, provides training and certification for K9s and their handlers as well as opportunities to prove what they’ve learned in scenario-based competitions between the 130 dog teams.
K9 Nix and his handler, Corporal Chris Donovan, earned first place in the “Tough Dog/Hard Dog” competition and second place in tracking.
K9 Kora and her handler, Deputy Hollie Collins, earned second place in explosive detection.
“I’m very proud of both of them; they’re sho ‘nuff good dogs,” Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said. “Both Nix and Kora have gained quite a reputation among law enforcement agencies, not just here but throughout Middle Georgia. Other agencies are always calling for our help because they’re such good trackers.”
Explaining the Tough Dog/Hard Dog competition, Donovan said the dogs are evaluated on how fast they apprehend an escaping subject.
For the first part of the training and competition, the evaluator was dressed in protective, padded clothing so as to not be hurt when bitten by the dog. In the second stage, the evaluator was dressed in plain street clothes, but the dog was muzzled.
Donovan estimated the evaluator, aka “criminal subject,” was approximately 25-30 yards away when Nix was commanded to take him.
Nix, a Belgian Malinois imported from Holland, is a small dog, weighing just shy of 60 pounds, according to Donovan.
“But he runs like a cheetah, and he took off and the evaluator said he hit him like a ton of bricks and was biting in the muzzle,” Donovan said. “He showed out and surprised everybody but even if he didn’t show anything, I wouldn’t trade him for anything because he’s the best dog.”
Nix is a dual-purpose K9, trained in drug detection, tracking, and criminal apprehension. Tracking includes outdoors and inside buildings, and not only searching for criminals but also people, including those who suffer from dementia, who are missing or have lost their way in wooded areas. A dog handler since 2011, Donovan became Nix’s handler in 2018, and Sills said they have apprehended a lot of criminal suspects in Putnam and surrounding counties.
“I give a lot of credit to Nix because he’s such a good dog and good at what he does,” Donovan said, adding that he also credited the trainers and other dog handlers who provided their advice. “A lot of people think dog stuff is magic, but it’s not. You have to be able to understand odors, how they work, and how to follow them, and you also have to understand the dog’s behavior. I am always learning.”
Deputy Collins and K9 Kora have worked together since 2017. Kora is trained in tracking like Nix is, but Kora also is trained in explosives detection.
“Kora can sniff out anything that goes ‘boom’,” Donovan said. “And she’s good at it, too.”
According to their handlers, both dogs, even though they have some age on them, are full of energy and wake up ready to go.
“As a matter of fact, Nix is spinning around in circles in the backseat of my patrol vehicle ready to go,” Donovan laughed. “He has gray on his face, but he’s a workaholic.”