Menlo officers, dogs nab 11 awards at K-9 competition Menlo officers, dogs nab 11 awards at K-9 competition (November 17, 2004)

Menlo Park police officer Kevin Paugh and his K-9 dog and partner, Zin, took first place overall in a recent competition involving 25 police departments from all over California.

Two other Menlo Park officers -- Steve Shaw and his K-9 partner Cain and Scott Mackdanz and his K-9 partner Dag -- also won awards.

The three officers and their K-9 partners took home 11 of the 30 awards given out at the competition, the annual Witmer-Tyson Police K-9 trials in La Honda.

Officer Shaw and Cain placed fifth overall and Officer Mackdanz and Dag placed seventh overall.

At the competition, 43 K-9 handlers competed in four compulsory exercises: obedience, handler protection, searching, and obstacle course.

The key mission of the handlers and dogs is to search for criminal suspects who have fled police, said Menlo Park's K-9 coordinator, Sgt. Andrew Kline.

The dogs are also used to search for missing children and mentally disabled people who have become lost, he said.

"One of our K-9s is cross-trained in narcotics detection and another is trained in explosives detection," said Sgt. Kline.
INFORMATION

For more information on the Menlo Park Police Department's K-9 program, call Sgt. Andrew Kline at 330-6341.

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