The next set of paws to uphold the laws in Kewaunee is in training. Kewaunee Police Department’s newest K-9 Chase will be on the case in the near future after he finishes his training with Wisconsin K-9 Services.

Until then, Kewaunee Police Officer Brian Gale continues to work with K-9 Charlie, who joined the force as the department’s first dog in 2016. The Kewaunee Police Department raised over $8,000 to get Charlie and train him. Another $8,000 was required for Charlie’s equipment and upkeep. Gale credits Charlie with getting narcotics off the street, tracking and apprehending suspects, and helping find lost subjects. He considers himself fortunate to be a K-9 handler as someone who has always wanted to be involved in that type of law enforcement. Gale knows it is very time consuming to train a K-9 and it sometimes tests his patience. Despite that, Gale says it is rewarding to see Charlie doing his job and succeeding at it.

The K-9 program at the Kewaunee Police Department is funded by community donations to offset the costs of training, equipment, and dog food.

You can read more about Gale’s experience as a K-9 handler below.

Question 1: What happened to the first dog?

Our first dog, Canine Charlie is still working with me on the street. He is getting up there in age and I will continue to work with him till Canine Chase is ready for the street.

Question 2: How do you like being a K-9 handler on the force?

Working as a Canine Handler is a honor for this department. I have been very fortunate having Canine Charlie as a partner and he has been instrumental in getting narcotics off of the streets, apprehending suspect, tracking lost subjects and tracking suspects running from law enforcement. Working a police dog is very rewarding when he is doing his job and succeeding at it.

Question 3: The biggest thing you learned about being a K-9 handler?

The biggest thing I have learned is that dogs are all about rituals. I cannot just throw the dog out of the car and expect him to do his job. A Canine is all about rituals before any type of deployment. Every time I deploy Canine Charlie, weather it be for a building search, narcotic sniff or track, I have to perform a ritual for that deployment. Then the dog understands what he is doing. I have also learned the virtue of patience. Training a dog is very time consuming and sometimes tests your patience. I need to remember that Canine Charlie is still just a dog.

Question 4: What excites you the most about Chase and getting to continue being a K-9 handler?

Like I said earlier being a Canine Handler is an absolute honor. I have been very fortunate and met a retired Canine Handler Timothy Newtols, from Brown County. Tim is the owner of Wisconsin Canine Services. He is the one that is doing the majority of the training for Canine Chase, and is also instrumental in the success of myself and Canine Charlie as a team.  

Ever since I was a child I wanted to work with dogs. I am very fortunate that we have been very successful as a Canine team and that I will be able to continue working a Canine. I love training dogs and at this time Canine Chase is a puppy. I am very excited to assist in the training of Canine Chase. I look forward to seeing Canine Chase progress from a puppy to working the streets as a Police Canine. It will be very rewarding seeing all of the time we have put in training Chase pay off on street deployments.

Pictures and videos courtesy of Wisconsin K-9 Services