From October 5th through October 10th, the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office’s K9 Unit participated in the Heart of America Police Dog Association’s certification process in Manhattan, Kansas. Certification was attended by approximately twenty five K9 teams from Kansas, Missouri and Iowa.

Guthrie County Sheriff’s Deputy Kent Gries and his K9 partner “Rage.”

During the week, the K9 team consisting of K9 Rage and Deputy Kent Gries were certified in numerous areas of police work including: tracking, narcotics detection, article search, suspect search, obedience and handler protection. Rage and Deputy Gries passed all of the certification scenarios without issue.

On the last day of certification, two certified K9 judges created a difficult scenario involving a barricaded subject inside of a commercial building structure.

The K9 teams were tasked with safely apprehending the barricaded subject while navigating obstacles presented to them throughout the scenario. Upon completion of the scenario, the judges graded each team’s performance and awarded first, second and third place trophies. K9 Rage and Deputy Kent Gries were awarded 2nd place for their efforts.

The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office wishes to thank all of the donors to the K9 unit and appreciate all of the well wishes that have been offered after Rage’s recent emergency surgery. Rage is doing well and is back to full duty.