K-9 Officers

About Us

The Boone County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit is currently staffed and equipped with four (4) K-9 Teams. The deputies assigned to these teams are specially trained with their particular dog. The deputies must first go through a selection process to become assigned to the K-9 Unit and then must attend a 6-8 week training academy. During the academy training, the deputy and his dog are taught various topics to include legal issues, tracking techniques, drug detection techniques and apprehension techniques. The deputies and their dogs are also required to undergo re-certification and attend monthly training as a matter of department policy.

The Boone County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit is assigned to the patrol and correction divisions and is divided up among our patrol shifts. Each shift is assigned a K-9 team when available. This allows a K-9 team to be on duty for each shift, every day of the week.

The Boone County Sheriff’s Office is fortunate to have two uniquely trained types of dogs. Part of our K-9 teams are trained specifically for drug detection and the other team is trained for tracking (Bloodhound). Our K-9 Unit is a vital function in our role as law enforcement professionals and this Unit provides weekly, if not daily, dividends to our efforts in combating crime here in Boone County.

FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: What does K9 training include?

Police K9 training is very different from traditional dog obedience training in that these dogs take on an important and specific responsibility, such as drug detection, general patrol or bomb detection. But the responsibility isn't solely on the dogs alone — their handlers play a big role in their success as well.

Q2: What does K9 training include?

Police K9 training is very different from traditional dog obedience training in that these dogs take on an important and specific responsibility, such as drug detection, general patrol or bomb detection. But the responsibility isn't solely on the dogs alone — their handlers play a big role in their success as well.

Q3: Do K-9 dogs go home with officer?

In most cases, K9 officers care for their police dog partners at all times, which means taking the dog home, caring for them, and keeping them in shape.

Q4: Can police dogs be family pets?

Absolutely! Police dogs live with their police officer partners/handlers, usually in a family setting, and at home are loving, trustworthy family members - just like other family dogs when they're off duty. Police dogs ARE family dogs.

Q5: Can you touch a police dog?

Don't touch K9s or service dogs. They are on duty and not to be distracted or made familiar with people in the community. Doing so could be a danger to the disabled person, and maybe the police officer.

Q6: How long can a police dog work?

In general, police dogs are retired after about seven or eight years. The breeds that tend to work as police dogs live about 11 to 14 years on average, depending on the breed, so once they retire, sadly, they may only have a few years left.