Zanesville officer who was shot trains with new K-9 partner

A new officer with the Zanesville Police Department will be on the streets.

He’s rather young, only 17 months old, has rather long dark hair, walks on all fours and does a lot of tail wagging. Until he has to apprehend someone then Tino, a German shepherd, has speed, lots of strong muscle on his 80-pound frame and very big, sharp teeth.

Tino is being trained with his partner, Officer Mike Schiele, at Pine Grove Kennel LLC in Reedsville.

Schiele has been training with Tino since his first partner, Bosco, retired to an ambassador position after both he and Schiele were shot Aug. 23.

Schiele was shot once in the leg, while Bosco took two bullets that almost killed him. Bosco, who was paralyzed for a time, since has made a miraculous recovery and is back home with Schiele and his family, although he returns to The Ohio State University Veterinary Hospital three times a week for intense therapy.

But Tino is willing and ready to join the force and begin his new job.

“He’s doing great,” Schiele said, as he watched Tino play with master trainer Steven Heater Monday. “He’s fitting right in at home and does great with Bosco. I think they both know Bosco is the alpha dog, and Tino seems OK with that.”

Tino was in training for six weeks before his training started with Schiele. The two are now half way through their six-week training session.

“But he’s a quick learner,” said Heater, who has trained 278 dogs for law enforcement agencies throughout Ohio and West Virginia. “It only took four hours before Tino knew exactly how to sniff out all four odors of narcotics. Some dogs it takes a lot longer. He’s smart, that’s for sure.”

In the first six weeks, Heater taught Tino his basics in narcotics, tracking, bite work and searches.

Now Tino and Schiele are finding their own rhythm together.

Not every dog is successful at becoming a K-9 officer, Heater said.

“You have to have a dog with an even temperament, not one that is mean. A good K-9 has to be very active and wants to retrieve. The dog will want to hunt, go out in the woods, but also be a protector. I look and see if a dog will stand and fight or if he backs away. Backing away is not a good sign.”

Tino was put through his paces Monday morning and was in a training room at the camp searching for narcotics.

“They think this is all a game,” Heater said. “They get a prize, or the toy they like, when they find the drugs. Then we take the toy away from them. It makes the drive to get that toy back high and they’ll want to find it over and over and over again.”

Heater said he first got interested in training dogs when he was 12 and started showing dogs.

“This is really the only job I could find that allows me to do what I love,” Heater said. Heater was previously with Meigs County Sheriff’s Office and then the Athens County Sheriff’s Office, both times as a K-9 handler.

Like Schiele, Heater credits one of his K-9 partners, Calypso, with saving his life. A suspect attempted to take Heater’s gun away from him and Calypso apprehended the suspect.

While Calypso and Heater’s other K-9 partner, Andi, are no longer with him, Heater does have Sinja, who also helps train officers like Schiele.

Tino will be part of Schiele’s family once they finish training and Heater believes a K-9 partner should be treated like a family member.

“Genetically, a dog is a wolf,” Heater said. “Which means they’re a pack animal. If you put the dog with the family, the family becomes the dogs pack. If you isolate the dog, the dog will not be as happy or content. Dogs are never by themselves. They’re either with another dog or a person. They have to feel part of something.”

Heater said officers like Schiele are important to any department.

“There are two types of officers who become K-9 handlers,” Heater said. “There are those who seek the glory and those who really want to make a difference in law enforcement. A good K-9 officer has to be passionate about his work and his partner. The dog is who an officer spends almost all his time with. They’re with each other at work and at home.”

Schiele said he looks forward to hitting the streets with Tino.

“He’s energetic, sociable and loves to work,” Schiele said. “He’s very happy and an affectionate dog. I know it might be hard on Bosco to see me go off to work with Tino the first couple of times, but I’ve been taking Bosco in the cruiser a couple of places and he’s going to have his own special job.”

By Kathy Thompson

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