Utah County K9 teams place in top five at National K9 trials in multiple categories
Mar 26, 2025, 6:00 AM
Officer Tona and K9 Scout with the Provo Police Department took 1st place in the 'Explosive Ordinance Protection' category at the 33rd Annual Las Vegas K9 trials on March 23, 2025. (Courtesy, Utah County Sheriff's Office)
(Courtesy, Utah County Sheriff's Office)
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah County K9 officers and their human partners placed in the top five of multiple categories at a national competition over the weekend.
The 33rd Annual Las Vegas K9 trials, hosted by the Las Vegas Metro Police Department and the non-profit organization ‘Behind the Blue’, took place Sunday. There were 80 K9 teams from across the country there to compete.
Utah County Metro Bomb Squad K9s
The Utah County Sheriff’s Office and Provo Police Department entered four of their Metro Bomb Squad K9s into the ‘Explosive Detection’ trials, according to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office’s post on Facebook.
“Though the K9s are from two separate agencies, you’d never know it due to the amount of time they spend training and deploying together,” the post said.
The Utah County K9s took four of the top five spots in their category.
Rankings
- 1st place: K9 Scout and Officer Tona with the Provo Police Department;
- 3rd place: K9 Loki and Sgt. McDaniel with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office;
- 4th place: K9 Dude and Deputy Provstgaard with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office;
- 5th place: K9 Eddie and Officer Anderson with the Provo Police Department
Officer Thacker and his K9 partner Zeus with the American Fork Police K9 Division placed 3rd in area search, 4th in tactical obedience, and 5th in handler protection, according to a Facebook post.
“We’re proud of this team and all the amazing, and hard work they have put in over the years and we look forward to competing in these trials for years to come,” the America Fork Police K9 Division post said.
Hours of work go into training K9 partners
Officer Eldredge and K9 Rocco with the Lehi Police Department placed 5th in the area search category, and 2nd in building searches.
“There are many many hours of hard work that handlers put in to make sure their K9 partners are ready to perform each shift, not just during competitions,” the Lehi Police Department said in a Facebook post.
“Our K9s are invaluable to us in the Law Enforcement Community,” the Utah County Sheriff’s Office said. “They are essential tools, providing skills beyond human comparison that help us keep our communities safe. (Their handlers are pretty good people too!)”
