The bond between a police K9 and their handler is about more than just their time together on the job. It goes much deeper, as shown by the relationship between Deputy Sean Urban of the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office and his K9 partner Dutch.

A Handler and K9 share a deep bond

During a recent interview, while setting up a training session, Urban revealed just how deeply he’s connected with his K9. It is this deep bond that allows them to accomplish their mission to serve and protect the community in which they live.

“That’s your partner,” Urban told MLive. “Of course, there’s going to be an emotional connection when you’re with your dog all the time.”

The connection between handler and K9 is what makes their job a success

It is this connection that Urban and the other deputies in his department feel makes the K9 department a success. The department’s narcotics search success rate trends higher than many of its peers – and it all starts with recruiting dogs that are the best fit for each handler on the team (as well as those with the physical fortitude to meet the demands of the job).

The K9 review process

A part of the process is a video review of potential candidates, as well as an in-person testing session. Then it is off to a four-month course designed to get the dogs ready for service – and this all takes place before they even meet their future handlers.

“With Dutch, there were a couple weeks of just establishing trust,” Urban said. “I let him out to go to the bathroom. I feed him every day and put him back in his kennel… And then, you start seeing a little bit of change in them when they start looking to you for some affection.”

The drive to succeed

It is through rewards and affection that K9s are taught to search for narcotics and contraband. According to Urban, it becomes a game to the K9s as they work for praise or a toy as a reward for successfully finding the item they are searching for.

“It’s an OCD type of drive,” John Bochenek, the K9 unit’s contracted trainer, said of Dutch. “He can’t think about anything else and we get to use that as a tool to get him to ‘play’ with us and work hard for us. We blend that into searching for orders.”

K9s have a lot of energy

Police K9s are high-energy dogs, which doesn’t lend to them being cooped up indoors. Urban describes Dutch as a wrecking ball, and he had to sit down with his family to go over the ground rules on how they were to approach this new K9 when he was brought into their home.

“The whole family has to be on board,” Urban said. “It’s a lot to be on the K9 team, getting called out in the middle of the night…we don’t want little kids poking fingers at the dog or people trying to pet them.”

K9s become a part of the family

Out of respect for his partner, Urban has designated the lawn behind his home as Dutch’s domain. This is the dog’s personal area to run off pent-up energy when he is not on the job alongside his handler. However, Urban says that Dutch will eventually slow down. At that point, he will adopt Dutch – bringing him into their home as the newest family member.

Watch this video of Dutch and Urban below!

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Source: MLive