Earlier this month, more than 70 police dog teams from local, state, and federal agencies participated in the 2018 Desert Dog Regional K-9 Police Trials in Mesa, AZ. The event was held at Sloan Park, the spring training camp to the Chicago Cubs.
Law enforcement agencies from Arizona, California, and Mexico were represented. The K-9 competition, in which handlers and their dogs compete in various exercises and events to simulate real-life scenarios, is open to the public. Scenarios include: handler protection, tactical building search, building search, agility/obstacle course, area search, narcotics, and explosives search. Because the building, narcotics, and explosives searches must take place in controlled environments, these are not open to the public.
The annual event is not funded by any public money. All costs associated with the event must be raised through donations, sales of program ad space, or vendor booth fees.
If you or your business would like to become involved in supporting or sponsoring these trials, setting up a vendor booth, advertising in the program, entering a K-9 team, or sponsoring a K-9 team, contact Scott Calender at scott@desertdogk9trials.com.
