Two dogs join Jackson County Sheriff’s K-9 Unit

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department recently made some additions to its staff, both of whom have four legs and a nose for stopping crime.

Two dogs recently joined the ranks of Jackson County’s finest as part of the K-9 Unit. Ice, a 5-year-old German shepherd, and Daisy, a 1-year-old bloodhound, joined Nash, the department’s K-9 for tracking and narcotics detection.

“These dogs are very valuable to the department and very valuable to what we do,” said Chief Deputy Mark Moan. “We as humans cannot duplicate what these dogs do.”

In operation since 2001, the K-9 Unit is made possible through donations and support of Jackson County residents. A total of five dogs have now served the department as part of the K-9 Unit.

Nash is the veteran of the current K-9 Unit. Specializing in narcotics detection, evidence searches and tracking, he has been with the department and handler Deputy Matt Koran for three years.

Nash, like the other K-9 dogs, lives with Koran and spends almost 24 hours a day with him. Out on the street, he is trained to protect himself as well as Koran if things happen to go bad in the line of duty.

“He is pretty much my best friend,” Koran said. “Nobody else in that department is responsible for him but me.”

Koran and Nash go through about 16 hours of training together each month to keep Nash’s drug-searching and tracking skills up to speed. Not only does Nash go through training within the department, but he works with trainers at Bachbett Kennels in Mindoro alongside dogs from Iowa and other Wisconsin counties.

Out on the street, Nash knows when its time to go to work. Koran said Nash has several successful drug tracks on his record and is often just as successful in locating evidence.

Koran said it’s important to know that while K-9 dogs can often be portrayed as vicious, Nash is a friendly dog. While he can apprehend a suspect if Koran instructs him to, he can go to a school and interact with children as well.

“He’s trained to protect me and himself, but he’s a big baby,” Koran said. “He is one of the few force options the department has that we can actually call off. You can’t call back a taser or a gun if the suspect complies.”

Joining Nash is Ice, a German shepherd new to the department. Ice also specializes in narcotics detection, tracking and protection. Although Deputy Nick Gray, Ice’s handler, is not new to the department, he is new to the job of K-9 handler.

“Through my experience working here, I’ve got to work closely with all of our previous units,” said Gray, who has been with the department for six years. “I’ve always liked dogs and it seemed like a natural fit.”

Ice came to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department from Necedah. He now lives with Gray, and the two are still getting used to one another.

“Basically, there’s a lot of stuff we’re still figuring out,” Gray said.

Ice also has to go through training every month with Gray to make sure they are proficient as a team. The duo will be attending a six-day drug detection course this week to earn their certification in drug detection.

After only two months of working together, Gray said Ice has already become a member of his family. Ice spends a majority of his day with Gray. He sleeps in Gray’s room at night and goes to work with him in the morning.

“It’s hard not to fall in love with him,” Gray said. “The big guy is with me more than anyone in my family.”

Gray said Ice is a valuable asset to the department because with his canine senses, he is an important tool to fighting drugs in the county. Gray said Ice and other members of the K-9 Unit also give him and other handlers the chance to do more in the community through public events with the dogs.

“They give the officers a chance to go out in public and do things for the community,” Gray said. “It gives people the chance to see officers in another role other than a negative contact.”

The second new addition to the K-9 Unit is Daisy, a 1-year-old bloodhound. Daisy, who was already a member of the Moan family, was brought to the department by Moan to replace Clyde, his 5-year-old bloodhound who lost a battle with cancer in February.

Moan, who was training Daisy for eight months to assist in missing-persons searches prior to joining the department, said she is doing very well in her training. Although she is technically still a puppy, Moan said, she is doing a fantastic job.

“It’s more me than it is her at this point,” Moan said. “It’s me learning how to read her and know what she’s doing when she’s tracking.”

Daisy had the chance to prove her skills last week when she assisted the department with an attempted armed robbery at the Black River Crossing Oasis Cenex gas station in the town of Brockway. Moan said based upon her tracking and actions, it led him to the conclusions that the suspects had left the area.

“For her age, I think she is progressing as she should be,” Moan said.

Daisy specializes in tracking missing persons, and Moan said a K-9 Unit is essential to missing person searches. Using their strong sense of smell, Daisy is capable of locating a missing person much quicker than a human search party. This will help reduce the amount of manpower used in a search and also reduce the amount of trauma to a victim or a victim’s family.

“We may go three or four months without using Daisy, but if one person is lost, the quicker we can find them and the better the outcome is going to be,” Moan said. “A dog using its nose is the quickest way we’re going to find someone.”

Two other dogs have served their time with the K-9 Unit and have since moved on. Morris, a German shepherd, is now retired. His handler was Deputy Mike Johnson. Grondo, also a German shepherd, moved to Iowa. His handler was Deputy Mike Ring.

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