Two new K-9s join law enforcement staff, begin training
Mar. 5—WORTHINGTON — Two new police K-9s have joined local forces in Worthington and Nobles County, and are now in training with their handlers. Odin joins Deputy Mike Schei in the Nobles County Sheriff's Office, while Skol is partnered with Officer Bryant Schroeder with the Worthington Police Department.
Both dogs and their handlers will complete police dog training at Code Blue K9 LLC in Rushford during the coming weeks.
A lifetime resident of Worthington and member of the WPD since 2020, Schroeder was selected as a K-9 handler after completing a special hiring process. Once his application was accepted, he was assigned to work with fellow WPD K-9 handler Sergeant Mark Riley, as well as the K-9 training coordinator at Code Blue.
Both Odin and Skol were purchassed from the same breeder in Slovakia. The German Shepherds were shipped to the United States and the officers picked them up in Albertville.
According to Schroeder, Skol warmed up to him fast.
"He's very excited," Schroeder said. "And he seems to like my squad car already, so that's great."
Skol earned his unique name from Schroeder, who is a self-proclaimed Vikings fan.
"Always have been (a fan), it runs in the family. It was only fitting," he said of giving the K-9 his name.
Schroeder had asked friends, family and fellow officers their opinion, and according to him, Skol just seemed to fit.
"I was against it at first, I thought it was a little too obvious," Schroeder said.
On Monday, Schroeder and Schei, along with Skol and Odin, began their training in Rushford. Over the course of four days, both the dogs and their handlers will be shown the ropes of their new duties, responsibilities and procedures carried out with the K-9s in mind.
Skol and Odin are now considered honorary members of the police force. They may be trained for any number of different tasks, such as searching for drugs and explosives, locating missing persons or suspects, discovering evidence at the scene of a crime, and most importantly, according to Schroeder, they are to protect and serve their officers and civilians.
During their training, the K-9s are to learn a myriad of verbal cues and physical gestures from their handlers. Initial training for police dogs can take anywhere between six months to a year, and they will regularly participate in training programs thereafter to reinforce what they've learned.
Training is a lengthy process, as it not only involves training of the dogs, but also their handlers. In order to become a K-9 handler, officers must first complete their prerequisite police academy training have one to two years of patrol experience.
"We're kind of learning the job together," Schroeder said. "I've never done it before, and obviously (Skol) hasn't done it before. I think it will be a good experience to learn from one another."
Right now, as Skol is still only about a year old, Schroeder says he's plenty social and full of energy. As training goes on, however, the idea is that Skol should become more relaxed and reserved.
"He's a puppy, he's like having a newborn at home," Schroeder shared. "He goes up and kisses my kids, but it's also in small doses. You can pet him now, but it may change after training. We, to be on the safe side, ask that you ask before petting the dogs if you see them around."
"It's a unique learning experience," he added. "We're hoping to learn a lot from each other."
