Medford Police Dept. training new K9

Medford, Ore. — The Medford Police Department is getting ready to start training its new police dog.
The training takes six weeks, and will determine if the K9, Kylo, has what it takes to help protect you. Officer Omar Esqueda is his new handler.

“Since I was a kid, I think the only thing that I really wanted to do in police work was be a canine handler,” Esqueda said.

That childhood dream is now a reality for Esqueda. Kylo has been with the department for two weeks, and he’s already well trained by household standards, but you may not understand his commands.

“He’s from the Czech Republic, so he speaks Czech,” Esqueda said.

Kylo is going to be an apprehension dog, chasing people who flee from officers.

“Obviously dogs are much better trackers than we are as humans, so he’s going to be working at night, to help us find people who flee from us during serious calls,” Esqueda said.

The pair will have to go through a six week training course– four days a week, 10 hours a day — before Kylo can really start working. Even without that certification, he’s already able to follow a scent.

“I’m going to walk a line dragging my feet, kind of leaving a good scent trail for the dog to follow, and just we’re going to make sure that the dog keeps his head down, and sniffs, and kind of follows the scent trail as we go along to make sure he’s tracking,” Esqueda said. “At the end, we’ll reward him with a toy.”

Kylo passed with flying colors. While most of the work they’re doing is just for fun, officer Esqueda says Kylo is very serious about his job.

“I think he’s ready to start working,” Esqueda said.

The department is looking for an instructor for Kylo’s training. Wherever they’re located is where the six week course will take place.

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