Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Bowman, Wagner
----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 7/27/2022
Meet Colby-Abby K9 Officer Dodge (2022)
Colby-Abby Police Department K9 Dodge clamps onto Lt. Alex Bowman’s arm, protected by a bite sleeve, as part of a demonstration at Farm Technology Days. Officer Jim Wagner, Dodge’s handler, is shown at right.
Valorie Brecht/Clark County Press
By Valorie Brecht
Local canine (K9) officer Dodge got the chance to show his skills in front of a large audience recently, when he appeared at Farm Technology Days.
Dodge is an 8-year-old Belgian Malinois from the Czech Republic. His handler is Officer Jim Wagner of the Colby-Abbotsford Police Department (CAPD). At Farm Tech Days July 12, Dodge identified which bag out of three had narcotics in it. He gave a passive alert, meaning that when he found the item, he laid down next to it. An active alert would be if he barked.
Dodge also demonstrated his attack skills. As an example, Lt. Alex Bowman of the CAPD put on a bite sleeve and then Wagner told Dodge to go after Bowman. Dodge latched onto Bowman’s arm and wouldn’t let go.
“He is trained to hold onto a person and bring them to the ground,” said Wagner.
“Ninety-nine percent of Dodge’s job is drug work, though; only one percent is bite work.”
Dodge is scent-trained to detect marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and all the derivatives of those substances.
Continual training is required for both dog and handler. Wagner and Dodge go twice a month to a training group in Wausau, putting in about 16 hours per month. They also take a trip to Michigan every year to test and get re-certified.
“It’s a lot of fun getting to meet all the other handlers,” said Wagner.
Dodge was trained from a puppy on to be a service dog; however, he had eight weeks of occupation-specific training. Wagner also had four weeks of training after that to learn the commands and how to work with Dodge. All of Dodge’s commands are in Czech.
Dodge’s reward for completing a task is getting to chew on a tennis ball.
“That tennis ball is his life. He’ll do anything for it. We go through about one to two tennis balls a day,” said Wagner.
Besides drug and bite training, Dodge is also able to track missing people, whether it’s a convict hiding from police in a large building or an elderly person with dementia who wandered away from home. Dodge follows the scent trail on the ground to the subject.
Wagner said Dodge is go-go-go all the time.
“He’s 1,000 times more hyper than a German shepherd,” said Wagner.
He expects Dodge will retire in two to three years, but for now he’s enjoying having a K9 partner on the job.
“It’s probably one of the best jobs in law enforcement,” said Wagner. “If I’m not doing anything, I take him to the park and train with him.”
