A K9 officer with the Hall County Sheriff's Office recently earned a new training title.
Sgt. Jeremy Prickett completed the Full Service K9 Trainer Course through Custom Canine Unlimited on April 30. That means Prickett will be able to do much more as a K9 officer than just handle a K9, he'll be able to train and teach new K9s and their handlers.
"It runs the gamut, it could be a narcotics dog, it could be an explosives dog, all the way to tracking, like the bloodhound [Prickett] usually handles," said Hall County Sheriff's Office Spokesman Derreck Booth. "It could be obedience training for all the K9s, and he's qualified to train apprehension dogs as well."
Booth said an obvious benefit was that they could now train K9s in house with Prickett, a veteran K9 officer, for any new dog that might come in to service.
Alex Cagle with Custom Canine Unlimited said their program basically teaches the trainer everything they know.
"In the Hall County case, he was doing it for his department so he will have all the skills he needs to train dogs and kind of troubleshoot things that may come up with his department's K9s, and be able to facilitate the training going forward," she said.
Cagle said they often also work with veterans and those who want to start their own dog-training businesses, as well as citizens who are seeking protection dogs. They are based in Hall County.
