Kivo sits in Riverside Park showing off his new bulletproof vest. (Photo submitted)
SPRUCE PINE — One of the newest hires at the Mitchell County Sheriff’s Department is not your typical employee.
Kivo, the new K-9 Unit dog, joined the force this past June and he’s now starting to settle into the job.
Lieutenant Jesse English, the K-9 officer, met Kivo for the first time when he went to pick him up at the Tarheel K9 Training Academy in Sanford, NC.
“Training is mostly just us getting to know each other and getting him to listen to me,” English said. “Because he’s my third K-9, though, the four-week training was only two weeks.”
After training was finished, Kivo was certified by the National Tactical Police Work Dog Association in narcotics, tracking humans, article searching and handler protection. The previous K-9 dog was only trained in narcotics, so English said it’s exciting to have him trained for more duties.
“I’m happy he has some more skills to put to use,” English said. “He found drugs the first week we were back from training. We’ve mostly used him for drug searches so far and he’s got some people. We’ve also done some tracking with him but he hasn’t found anybody yet. We still haven’t found any articles with him yet, but I’m sure we will.”
Another bonus for the K-9 unit is the new bulletproof vest English got through a grant program.
“I’d never had a bulletproof vest for a dog, because they’re like $9,000 and our budget is $1,500 a year, so it really wasn’t an option,” he said. “But my friend Christy found this program for me and they sent him a bulletproof vest that we’ve used a couple of times for searches now.”
The two-year-old Dutch Shepherd was born and trained in The Netherlands, where he received his initial training. Because of this, Kivo has a passport and his commands are mostly in Dutch.
“That’s pretty common, so I know a little Dutch. Not a whole lot, but a little bit,” he said. “They used to tell you that they teach the commands in another language so that no one else can command him, but I’ve had him for six months now and he doesn’t listen to anybody but me. He’s always looking to me.”
Kivo replaces Oscar, who served as the K-9 Unit dog for 10 years. Oscar lives at home with English and his family and has become a “pet dog.”
“Oscar’s gotten kind of fat but he’s doing well and my son loves having him as a pet” English said. “But, him and Kivo get along well and we’ll walk him around the land behind my house to get him some exercise.”
Kivo also lives with English, but is treated a little differently.
“When he’s off, I don’t work him, so he knows he can relax some and be calm, but he still has a lot of obedience at home,” he said. “I can’t treat him like a normal dog and let him on the bed or the couch, though, because we could go do a search at a house and he’ll see a couch and go lay down and not do his work. So, there’s a separation from work and home.”
When it comes to Kivo’s personality, English said he’s friendly to everyone, but he does have his preferences.
“He loves women and loves my wife, especially,” he said. “But, he likes everyone. He’s a social dog and he gets along with cats and other dogs and he’s good with kids and people. He’s a really affectionate, happy dog.”
English said Kivo will likely serve eight to 10 years at the Sheriff’s department before retiring.