Pueblo County Sheriff K9s receive national recertification

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) – All four K9s of the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office (PCSO) and their handlers are being nationally recognized this week after receiving recertification from the American Law Enforcement Canine Association.

The recognition follows a successful completion of the canine trials from Nov. 20-22, where PCSO said K9 Gunner, Edo, Zeus and Loki demonstrated their exceptional skills in tasks including narcotic searches in buildings, bite work, dog recalls mid-chase, obedience and civil searches without bite.

Recognized nationally are K9 Gunner and handler Lieutenant Josh Rude; K9 Edo and handler
Sergeant Ben Martinez; K9 Zeus and handler Deputy Chris Carter and K9 Loki with hander Deputy
David Weldon.

All the K9s easily passed the narcotics detection portion of the trials, PCSO said, with K9 Edo and Sgt. Ben Martinez recording the fastest time among all 11 K9s in the trials. The agency's three apprehension K9s - Gunner, Edo and Zeus – also passed the protection and civil tracking trials.

“We are extremely proud of our K9s and their handlers for the work they have done to maintain these
prestigious certifications, which also enhances the credibility of our dogs,” Pueblo County
Sheriff David Lucero said. “Maintaining such a high level of performance from these dogs requires
consistent training and practice. I commend the handlers for the excellent and ongoing work they put
into training with their K9s and continually working to be the best that they can be.”