K9s make a splash at Goodman Pool

Madison dog lovers were drawn away from their football-packed television screens and out to the pool this weekend, where their dogs could swim and compete in agility trials.

The Capital City K9s, a nonprofit group composed of dedicated community volunteers, held its annual Dog Paddle fundraiser on Sunday, Sept. 13 at Goodman Pool. All proceeds from the event will go directly to the Madison Police Department’s K9 unit.

Fundraising for Madison’s K9 unit is not an easy undertaking. According to Officer Eric Disch, it costs $50,000 in donations to support a single dog in the unit for necessities like food, wellness care and training programs.  

“We are training on and off duty, so the training really never stops,” Officer Disch said.

Dog Paddle Day is more than just a fundraising event - it’s an educational opportunity.

“Education is a very important aspect so that the community understands what the K9 unit is about and how we’re out there trying to make the community safer,” Officer Disch said.

Officer Disch has been on the force for 12 years and worked in the Madison Police Department for over five before becoming a K9 handler.

Thanks to a donation from the BerbeeWalsh Foundation, he was paired with his dog, K9 Jagger, in April. He was sent to Tarheel Kennels in North Carolina for an initial four-week training. Then he and K9 Jagger trained with Sgt. Chris Boyd, team leader of the MPD K9 unit at the time.

“I saw the benefit of what [dogs] could do in terms of officer safety and investigation, in terms of collecting evidence we otherwise wouldn’t collect if we didn’t have dogs - primarily because of their sense of smell,” Boyd said.

K9 officers are essential in building searches where officers can’t tell where a suspect is hiding. The dogs can smell a suspect behind a door and alert an officer. Police departments also use K9s to find illegal narcotics and locate missing persons or suspects who have fled a crime scene.

“If a child walks away from their home, humans can’t just go out and locate something that’s hiding very easily,” Officer Disch said. “Dogs can use their nose.”

Oftentimes police departments start a K9 unit is to make the job safer for human officers.

One dog enjoys a swim at Goodman Pool before it closes for the fall (Melissa Behling/Madison Commons)

“One of the main reasons we have dogs is so that we don’t have to put the human officers in danger,” Capital City K9s board member Julie Tessmer said. “Oftentimes when a suspect might be hiding inside a building and they know that a dog is outside, they are going to give themselves up.”

But human officers take special measures to make sure their K9 partners are protected, too. K9 handlers are trained to understand when their dog senses a dangerous situation. And thanks to Wisconsin Vest-a-Dog, the MPD K9s are outfitted with a bulletproof vest.

The MPD K9 Unit is in its tenth year of operation. Boyd was one of the founding members of both the K9 unit and the Capital City K9s. When she proposed MPD start a K9 unit, it failed twice in the county board due to budgetary concerns.

“I looked into what was happening across the country and how K9 units were funding their programs,” Boyd said. “It was quite a range, going from all the necessary funding coming from the police budget to Anchorage, Alaska, that had a nonprofit organization.”

Boyd decided to follow Anchorage’s example and start the nonprofit organization Capital City K9s. With this established source of funding, the county board approved her proposal to start an MPD K9 unit that started out with three dual-purpose dogs and now has eight.

Boyd retired in August and spends her time doing personal dog training. She is succeeded by Sgt. Jeff Felt.

Aside from their duties to keep Madison safe, the K9 unit also engages in community service like demonstrations at schools. Boyd’s personal dog, Imus, is certified in pet training and has helped out at the Midvale school district. Children who struggle with reading can practice their skills by reading books aloud to Imus.