Deputy Brian Amos, K9 Jesse, and Joe Leach of the Folsom Police K9 Unit following the certification test

As was reported here, my previous K9 partner Jimmy had an embolism in his spine and had to retire. Although he recovered nicely it just wasn’t enough. After many months of searching for another good K9 partner I think I finally found one. Sgt. Butler and Deputy Kemp traveled to Indiana this past November to look at police dog candidates at Vohne Liche Kennels.

They brought back this 61 pound bundle of joy who didn’t know much about being a police dog but looked like he had lots of potential. I brought him home and let my twin girls pick a name for him. Like they had been talking about this before they screamed out “Jesse!” I said Jesse it is.

Jesse was born in Holland on May 11, 2004. He is a Belgian Malinois with a great personality. He likes to curl up in your lap and he does it with such enthusiasm it almost knocks you over. We trained together for about six weeks prior to certifying. During those six weeks we taught Jesse how to find someone, apprehend someone, let go, come back, climb over obstacles, and obedience. Jesse was a good student and eager to learn. On December 30th, 2005 we asked Joe Leach with the Folsom Police K9 Unit to come out to our training facility and run Jesse and I through the certification test. We were ready but nervous. Jesse did really well and we passed each scenario.

We returned to my graveyard shift on New Years night. A few hours into the shift deputies were called to an apartment complex where two suspects were breaking into a vehicle. When the deputies arrived both suspects took off running. They caught one of them who had a gun. Jesse and I arrived to search for the other. After an hour of searching the neighborhood Jesse found the second suspect hiding under a U-Haul truck. Good Boy!

Although Jesse is young and much of what he is experiencing on the street is new to him I think with his enthusiasm and willingness to learn he is going to turn out to be a fine police dog.

K9 JESSE APPREHENDING A DECOY IN A VAN
Please allow a minute or so for it to load. You can also save it to your computer by right clicking the Save Video link and choosing “Save Target As...”