K9 Unit

K9 handler training

Our Sheriff’s Office K9 handlers are selected through a competitive process; human candidates must have at least five years’ experience as a police officer.

Once chosen, the dog and handler attend a six-week basic handler’s school. Once the team returns to service in Clackamas County, they spend their time training, responding to calls, searching for suspects and helping out our Patrol division and outside agencies with calls for service.

When are K9 teams needed?

The dogs are mostly used for their extraordinary senses of smell — although their keen hearing and ability to detect movement help with captures. K9 teams respond to the following incidents:

• Pursuits of suspects hiding from deputies
• Article, evidence or narcotics searches
• SWAT calls
• Residential or business alarms
• Premise checks
• High-risk traffic stops or pursuits

The K9 Unit also spends many hours on public demonstrations at schools, fairs, and community events.

Two of our former dogs, Mik and Nero, are featured in their own series of comic books.

2021 K9 team stats

From the 2021 CCSO Year in Review:

• 7 K9 teams
• 716 total deployments
• 826 total activities during deployments (building searches, area searches, vehicle sniff checks, etc.)
• 818 total hours deployed
• 170 total evidence items found