Their names could fill in the most adorable starting nine in a baseball lineup – Rony, Scout, Oly, Kaiser, Max, Lani, Jet, Reece and Wolfgang.
These nine hard-working dogs and their handlers attended a recent training at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus held by the Front Range Explosives Detection K-9 Group (FRED). FRED is a collection of K-9 explosive teams from federal, state and local agencies from Colorado and Wyoming that collaborates on both training exercises and security assignments.
CU Anschutz has hosted the K-9 training three times. Hosting the event strengthens the campus’s connection to FRED for larger events, such as commencement, said Dave Hall, patrol commander for University Police.
Rennie Mora, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), led the exercises. One of the benefits of conducting training at CU Anschutz, he said, is that the campus gives the dog and handler wider exposure to new environments, rather than the usual training sites in their respective jurisdictions.
The event included representatives from the Colorado State Patrol, U.S. Marshals Service, Regional Transportation District and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. While on campus, the dogs and their handlers ran a course that took them through the halls and study rooms of Education 2 South, including a large lecture hall. Part of the test was for the dog-and-handler team to identify tagged packages or backpacks.
Staying sharp is important for K-9 teams throughout their service careers. Mora said most dogs start on K-9 teams around age 2 to 3, serve for about six years and then retire to a comfortable life.
See a gallery below for all the good dogs who visited campus and put in a hard day’s work.