After a fire took the life of its K-9 unit Ryder, Athens County Sheriff’s Office will begin training with their new K-9 unit, Ijo, a male 2-year-old Dutch Shepherd from France.
After mourning the death of its K-9 unit Ryder, the Athens County Sheriff’s Office will now begin training with their new K-9 unit, Ijo, a male 2-year-old Dutch Shepherd from France.
According to a news release from the sheriff’s office, Deputy John Kulchar will train with Ijo in Columbus for the next six weeks. During that time, Kulchar and Ijo will learn to work together as a K-9 unit for the sheriff’s office.
As they spend time in Columbus, Ijo will train in bite work, scent detection, tracking, handler’s protection and searches, according to the release. Kulchar will also teach Ijo how to follow commands, and Ijo will teach Kulchar how he “reads” while on the job. This can include the way the dog moves his ears, changes his body posture and snorts, according to the release.
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“I will fulfill a promise I have made and that is to make sure a dual purpose dog will join in the fight of the narcotics problem here in Athens County,” Kulchar said in the release.
In early April, the sheriff’s office K-9 unit Ryder, a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois died in a house fire at Deputy Kulchar’s house.
Ryder also came from France and was with the sheriff’s office since late 2014, according to a previous Post report.
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“Again, I would like to give thanks to our Athens County Commissioners and the Athens County residents,” Athens County Sheriff Rodney Smith said in the release. “I would like to extend my gratitude to all those that became a part of our community to help ensure we have a K-9 unit once again. Your continuous support and efforts have not gone unnoticed and are greatly appreciated.”
@Fair3Julia
