Area K9s go to school
By Terry Murry on Thursday, September 29th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
MORROW COUNTY – The Morrow County Sheriff’s Office played host to K9 officers and their handlers at a special police K9 and decoy training seminar earlier this month. KnightWatch K9 brought Mark Hilger, a prominent K9 instructor form Nord Rhein Westphalen, Germany, to the three-day training session.
The Morrow County Sheriff’s Office, Pendleton Police Department, Union County Sheriff’s Office, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service took part in the training. Several venues were provided for the training which focused on developing handler and decoy skills. Those locations included the Irrigon Multicultural Arts Center, the Port of Morrow maintenance yard, and a small farm.
“This intensive and quality training will allow our area K9s to hone skills and better serve our citizens,” a news release from MCSO stated. “These specialized teams of officers/deputies and their dogs work in a wide variety of high-risk environments where skills refined in training like that recently delivered are critical to safe and successful outcomes for all involved.”
The sheriff’s office gave special praise to three deputies who stepped up to act as decoys for the dogs and their handlers. They are Deputy Zachary Killgore and Deputy Collin Brill with MCSO and Union County Sheriff’s Deputy Nicholas Vora.
KnightWatch K9 of Sierra Vista, Arizona offers training and advance seminars like the one in Morrow County for protection dogs and their handlers across the United States.
Photo contributed by MCSO of Pendleton Police Corporal Cass Clark and K9 Officer Bali.
