The CPD K-9 Unit competed in the Bakersfield K9 Trials this past weekend against 35 other K9 teams, taking home five trophies, including the most prestigious award—Top Dog.
There were three entries by the CPD; Mika and Officer Dayna De Jong, Jax and Officer Brent Drum (Clovis Police officer of the year in 2018) and Corda and Officer Phill Garcia.
Between the trio of patrol dogs with their partners, five different awards were won in Bakersfield. The Visalia Police Department puts on the competition every year and this year, CPD were the big winners.
“In the competition, K-9’s have to go through a number of different sub-categories; they do Obedience, Protection, they do Agility, Building Search and Area Search. They then have some special awards for top Novice Overall or Overall Dog and they have a special one, called Top Dog and that was the most prestigious and our Officer Garcia won that award,” Corporal and K-9 unit coordinator for the CPD Joshua Kirk said.
“It was a great honor.”
Mika and Officer De Jong were awarded 4th place in the Novice Overall competition, while Jax and Officer Drum were awarded 3rd place in the Area Search, 2nd place in the Building Search and 2nd place in the Agility competition.
And finally, Corda and Officer Garcia who took home the most coveted prize of all, the Top Dog award.
For the complete list of competitions, go to: https://bakersfieldcity.us/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?t=28246.5&BlobID=33305.