K-9 officers 'a vital tool': As 2 retire from Ashland police, department welcomes rookies

It was an outstanding changing of the guard last Friday as a pair of K-9 Ashland Police Department dogs were retired and two new ones were introduced.

The Norma Foundation hosted the afternoon event as Officers Bryce Stormer and Kyle Dress were introduced with their dogs, Smokey and Athos.

The Norma Foundation is instrumental to the local K-9 unit helping to offset the costs associated with the purchase and training of the canines.

Captain Craig Kiley presented a plaque to Sgt. Tim Atchison and his retiring dog Robbie and spoke on the importance of the K-9 units. Also retiring is K-9 Luger who was handled by Sgt. Lee Eggeman.

The right K-9 can make your program

“I think the K-9 program is a vital tool that can be used to help departments succeed,” Kiley began. “I think it is vital that you have the right dog and the right handler. They can make or break your program.”

He explained the importance of having the right K-9.

“Not every dog is fit to be a K-9. It doesn’t matter the size as my last dog was 62 pounds working the street. He was a great dog and we had great success with him. Every dog brings some aspect of positivity to the department. They are like our unofficial mascot.”

Kiley said Ashland City has two working dogs now with the most active being three.

“It would be nice if the department could get back to having three active K-9s,” he said.

Dogs provide valuable services

Chief David Lay echoed the same sentiments to the importance of the K-9 unit.

“It is very beneficial whether it is tracking, apprehension or drug sniffing,” he said. “The dogs provide services we struggle with otherwise especially in regards to finding items.

“We are very fortunate that the Norma Foundation gives us donations to facilitate our program. Without their help we probably would not have such a successful program.”

Officer Stormer said he is thrilled to be a part of the program.

“I am very excited to be able to do this,” he said. “It is always something I have dreamed about doing. Ever since I got involved with the police department back in 2021 that was talked about in my first interview. I told them I wanted to become a K-9 officer. It is nice to go through the process and be here today.”

Officer Dress said that he also dreamed of this day.

“Honestly, this is a dream come true,” he said. “I never thought that it would happen in under three years and I’ve been in this department three years now. There are a lot of things you can do inside a police department, but the K-9 unit is definitely an elite group. To be able to make it at this stage, I am extremely excited about it.”

Both Stormer and Dress talked about the importance of the first six weeks spent with their dog.

“We had six weeks of intensive training and a lot of bonding time in a hotel,” said Dress.

“We went through a K-9 training and went to Columbus and trained with Columbus PD,” added Stormer. “We trained with their K-9 Program.”

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Ashland police welcome two new K-9 officers, Smokey and Athos