DENVER, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) – UPDATE: On August 16th, according the Terre Haute Police Department’s Facebook page, the department brought home a total of 13 awards across the five day competition.
ORIGINAL STORY:
The Vohne Liche Kennels K9 Olympics is where the best dogs in the world have come to showcase their abilities for the past 25 years.
Terre Haute Police Department Public Information Officer Justin Sears said that THPD has a reputation of excellence in this competition.
“We typically do well every year,” he said. “It has become an expectation for our success up here, and that goes to our training and deployments that we do in the city of Terre Haute. We take it very seriously as our K9 unit is very professional, very well trained, and we have the benefit of being supported by our administration and by the city.”
This event consists of judges scoring over 100 competitors in over 30 events that replicate what these dogs and trainers could go through on any given day. Sears said that the training that it takes to compete in this helps build an unbreakable bond between a trainer and their K9.
“These handlers put in so much time and work, they just want to show off their dogs too,” he said. “It is their best friend. The dogs live with us, go to work with us, and they are with us more than our families. It is a bond that you can’t really explain, so when they get to come up here and showcase what they are doing along with finding their weaknesses. That is what this is about.”
Founder and owner of Vohne Liche Kennels and the K9 Olympics Kenneth Licklider said that what separates this competition from others is that it changes every year.
“The events are put together and judged by a different person every year so they can’t be at home practicing and getting ready,” he said. “I want it to be like what a cop goes through on the street. They go out and they react to what happens to them at that moment.”
Licklider says that he just wants this competition to motivate trainers to be the best that they can be.
“Hopefully, they see where they are at amongst their peers and that motivates them to get off the couch and do some training,” he said.
All of the events conclude Friday, and we will be sure to keep you up to date with the results of the K9s from the Terre Haute Police Department.
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