K9 Odin
Nevada County Sheriff’s Office
K9 Odin is a Belgian Malinois and turns 2 years old on Dec. 19, 2024, which is fittingly his first official day on patrol with his handler, NCSO Deputy Braeden Ross. Deputy Ross and K9 Odin went through rigorous daily training via D-TAC K9, a Northern California training organization that specializes in patrol and detection K9 training. In total, Deputy Ross and K9 Odin completed 240 hours of training and graduated on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. K9 Odin is now Peace Officers and Standards Training certified in K9 Patrol, specializing in obedience, suspect searching, building searching, tracking, article detention, handler protection, and apprehension.
“Odin will be providing a variety of patrol functions, designed to increase officer safety, public safety, and the apprehension of suspects when needed,” explained Sheriff Shannan Moon, Nevada County Sheriff.
K9 Nugget
Grass Valley Police Department
The Grass Valley Police Department in conjunction with Rüdiger Foundation, All Stage Canine Development, and Creme Brulee Goldens are pleased to introduce Nugget. She is a 9-month-old Golden Retriever whose primary purpose is to be a peer-support and therapy dog for job related stressors and critical incident debriefs throughout our local first responder community. RüF graciously funded the acquisition of Nugget through All Stage Canine Development who sourced Nugget from Crème Brulé Goldens and began her training to serve as a therapy dog. Nugget is already right at home in the police department and has already done a great job supporting her teammates! On October 14, 2024, Nugget passed her AKC Canine Good Citizen test with her handler Detective Chris Roberds and will continue training towards her AKC Therapy Dog Certification through All Stage Canine Development.
K9 Riggs
Nevada County Sheriff’s Office
K9 Riggs is a 6-year-old German Shepherd and a seasoned police dog with three years of prior policing experience. In order to join the NCSO team, he and his handler, NCSO Deputy Kayla Ramos, went through six-weeks of training through D-TAC K9, a Northern California training organization that specializes in patrol and detection K9 training. The training was paid for by the Rudiger Foundation. In total, Deputy Ramos and K9 Riggs completed 240 hours of training and graduated on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024.
K9 Dash
Grass Valley Police Department
Recently, GVPD was excited to acquire a new K9 named Dash. The Rüdiger Foundation provided funding to acquire him in April 2024. Officer Colton Duncan has successfully completed the requisite training with Dash who is now certified as a Police K9. Dash was introduced to the community on July 23, 2024, at the Grass Valley City Council meeting. He is a 19-month-old Belgian Malinois who joins K9 Kano as an active GVPD K9. He and Officer Duncan are now actively patrolling the streets of Grass Valley.
K9 Ruby
Nevada City Police Department
We would like to introduce and announce the name of our new K9! Please welcome Ruby to Nevada City Police Department! Originally a resident of the great state of Kentucky, staff from NCPD will be taking possession of her on April 23, 2023. Ruby will be working with Officer Anderson and is happy to be home.
K9 Vito
Nevada County Sheriff’s Office
K9 Vito, a good-sized, very personable 2-year-old Belgian Malinois from the Netherlands, began his intense training with his forever partner Deputy King, in September 2021. The pair performed very well, earning their certifications in December 2021 and allowing the team to join K9 Ranger and Deputy Stanis on patrol. To no surprise, only a few short weeks into being on duty, K9 Vito and Deputy King helped apprehend a suspect through a surrender, demonstrating the main role of these K9 partners to de-escalate potentially dangerous situations.
K9 Ivan
CA State Parks
This handsome fella just finished his training & will officially be on duty December 18, 2020. Welcome K9 Ivan, our new CA State Parks officer! Ivan is fully certified as a patrol dog and is loving his time spent at our California state parks. His handler is Ranger Gilbertson and they’re off to a wonderful start getting aquatinted with the beautiful Yuba river. Ivan replaces K9 Augie and Miro.
K9 Kano
Grass Valley Police Department
On May 22, 2018, at the Grass Valley City Council meeting, Chief Gammelgard introduced Kano – GVPD’s first K9 Officer. Kano is a 2 year old Belgian Malinois, born in The Netherlands. Kano has been trained in obedience and other skills since he was a pup. Over the past couple months he and his handler, Officer Evan Butler, have been training together. Last week Kano passed all his tests and is now officially certified for patrol duties and narcotics detection. You will see Kano out and about on the streets of Grass Valley.
K9 Ranger
Nevada County Sheriff’s Office, Retired
Status: Retired
Agency: Nevada County Sheriff’s Office
Birthplace: France
Birthdate: 2017-09-30
Favorite Activity: Swimming
Favorite Food: String Cheese
Favorite Toy: Red Kong
Quirky Habits: Staring Contest
Handler: Deputy Stanis
It has been a great opportunity, both professionally and personally, to have Ranger as my partner. From the day I picked him up to our first patrol shift together, Ranger has shown an amazing ability to pick things up quickly as a working dog. He quickly became a member of the family at home and with the Deputies at work. I’m excited to grow with Ranger as he learns and as he continues to teach me new things. I am beyond grateful for the opportunity the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office has given me by allowing me to have Ranger as a partner.
K9 Miro
CA State Parks, Retired
Status: Retired
Agency: California State Parks
Birthplace: Czech Republic
Birthdate: 2015-02-28
Favorite Activity: swimming and playing tug of war
Favorite Food: french fries
Favorite Toy: Cuz Ball after he has eaten the feet
Quirky Habits: tossing toy in your lap when you don’t pay attention to him.
Handler: Ranger Gilbertson
I was blessed to have Miro as my partner for four years before he unexpectedly retired. As a patrol K9, I had the best of both worlds; he was a lovable and goofy member of the family at home, but completely focused, loyal, and intense at work. Every day, he gave me his everything, and there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t wish he was still there riding with me, head on my shoulder, facing whatever challenges thrown our way. My goal now is to return the loyalty, and allow him to enjoy a long and happy retirement.
K9 Rüdiger
Nevada City Police Department, Grass Valley Police Department, Retired
Status: Retired
Agency: Grass Valley Police Dept
Birthplace: Trstena Slovakia
Birthdate: 2014-02-15
Favorite Activity: Eating
Favorite Food: Literally Anything
Favorite Toy: Ball on Tether
Quirky Habits: Nurses on his dog bed
Handler: Officer Cloyd
My time with K9 Rudiger has been hands down the best experience of my Law Enforcement career. The unconditional bond that is formed between K9 and his/her handler is not comparable to anything I have ever experienced. From the unparalleled faithfulness, to simply talking out loud to him while we drive around on patrol (and everything in between), Rudiger is always there for me. Rudiger is a member of my family, a protector, a partner and a friend.
Photos by Lisa Jarvis Photography