MK9 Solutions

16/12/2023

Just a little puppy playtime and deciding who’s boss!

19/11/2023

Our Trainers took on the One World Canine Obstacle Run over the weekend, Congratulations! It’s a brutal course!

10/11/2023

“Never was so much owed by so many to so few” MK9 humbly expresses our gratitude to all those who serve and have served our great country!

06/11/2023

One of many MK9 pups making a difference! Congratulations Marcy and Officer Drake! Wishing you all the best with your first canine partner! www.mk9solutions.com

https://www.ohio.edu/news/2023/11/eagerly-reporting-duty-meet-oupds-newest-k9

Meet Marcy, OUPD's newest Explosives Detecting K9. Highly-trained and friendly, Marcy works campus events and travels across the region with her handler (and best friend), Officer Richard Drake.

03/11/2023

Did you know that Labradors have been deployed in various working rolls since the Vietnam War and along with their counterparts credited for saving 10,000 lives? Beautiful exhibit at the U.S Army Museum!

02/11/2023

There are many like it! But this stick is mine! Happy Humpday!

10/10/2023

Shout out to our newest followers! Excited to have you onboard!

Nancy Hall, Tyler Grantham

02/10/2023

Introducing AL #35! October 1st-2nd Whelp! But we need some help this is our Q Litter…. READY…. NAME THAT PUP!

02/10/2023

Congratulations Kachina on a job well done! Longest serving K9 with the ATF enjoy retirement!

Accelerant detection K-9 Kachina is finally getting a well-deserved break. The 10-year-old is the most senior ATF ADC dog in the U.S.

01/10/2023

MK9 Pup Marcy doing great things in Ohio! Read her and her handlers story!

Marcy the K-9 is officially a Bobcat.

Marcy and her handler, Officer Richard Drake, are the newest members of the of the Ohio University Police Department’s Bomb Detection Squad. Marcy is a 20-month-old yellow Labrador retriever from MK9 Solutions in Piedmont, Ala, and Officer Drake is an 11-year veteran of the Ohio University Police Department.

Drake and Marcy earned their Ohio Police Officer Training Academy Explosive Detection Canine certification on Aug. 22. Their accomplishment was recognized during a graduation ceremony at Columbus Fire Station 3 on Sept. 15, 2023.

During the ceremony the team demonstrated their training. Ten cinder blocks were lined up, and the explosives (double base and TNT) were added to two of the blocks. Drake led Marcy around the blocks, and she sat to alert Drake once the explosive was detected.
Marcy and Officer Drake were trained by Columbus Division of Fire’s Dennis Hammond. Firefighter Hammond also trained Officer Brandon King and K9 Bach, Ohio University’s other explosive detection team.

King and Bach completed their training in May of 2022. Preparing a K9 explosive detection team is a long process. After an initial evaluation, Hammond spends six to eight weeks with the dogs building a foundation and beginning the imprint training before the handler starts their eight weeks of training with the dog.
Hammond explained.

“Once I do the evaluation and bring the dog back, it's about two more weeks of evaluation. Then once I make my mind up, my dogs stay with me six to eight weeks. I put the foundation on them, start the imprint process, change environment; start building the behaviors we want before the handler ever comes down," said Hammond.

The handler is in class for eight weeks for a bomb dog, but Hammond is there for the team long after their graduation. “It’s just not a 14-16 week process then it stops, everything's done. That's just me teaching them how to continue to work their dog and improve their dog,” said Hammond.

Hammond says he is there for the teams he trains throughout their career if needed, but especially in their first year on the job.

Dogs with Columbus Fire are food trained. They receive all their food by hand as part of training. Marcy was also trained this way at the beginning but is now transitioning to a ball tactic rather than food.

This was a decision made by the OU Police Department. They felt this was the best option for them, and better for their officers. It also makes it easier should someone need to watch one of their dogs if a handler goes out of town.
Marcy is trained to detect 24 different explosives. While training, or on an actual scene, she will sit to alert her partner to the presence of explosives. She will then be given her ball as a reward.

There will be a lot of work for the two explosive detection teams to do.

“Being at the university we'll have a lot of basketball games, football games, concerts. We have a ton of concerts, and during our fest seasons we’ll be out and about,” said Drake.

“We're now pretty much a part of Columbus Fire even though that's not our employer. They have trained two of our dogs now. So, anytime they need something that is down in our area, Southeastern Ohio, like a school bomb threat or a courthouse bomb threats- like my partner had to take care of not too long ago- if it's kind of too far out for Columbus Fire to get to they have no problem calling us and we take care of it. It's just a good resource to have, and then the same goes for them. So, if they need help with Red White and Boom or any type of games, they call us and we're going to go. We’re pretty much a team now,” said Drake.

Marcy is not only Drake’s partner she is now also part of his family.

“She’s such a personable dog, I couldn't ask for a better dog,” said Drake, “My daughter loves her. My kids love her. My wife loves her. She's just a very

“She’s very hyper because she's only 20 months old. She's still got a little puppy in her. We finally get to go home today. We’ve been eight weeks in a hotel and back home and then up here with Columbus Fire, so it's a lot of stress. Getting back into a routine of just going home going to work, I think it's going to rein her in a little bit. I think we'll be just fine.”

“Having patience was key, just because there's a lot thrown at you in that eight-week time period, but I would say the hardest thing for me was being away from the family. I had to stay up here for eight weeks in the hotel. I only got to go home Friday through Monday, so it made it hard, especially having a two-year-old. My wife had to take care of everything. Our other two kids are in sports, and she had to deal with the toddler as well. She deserves all the credit,” said Drake.

“That was the hardest part, just knowing that my family was really busy and I'm sitting in the hotel room training a dog. But like I said, the reward’s worth it in the end. Now I'm finally seeing the end; so it's kind of nice,” said Drake.

Ohio University Police Department

Photos and story by Lorrie Gardner for the Columbus Division of Fire

29/09/2023

K9 ELDON … wrapping up a great week of training on vehicles! Looking for a K9 like Eldon for detection? [email protected]

27/09/2023

Update on K9 Eldon, and his progression through training from K9 Guild!
MK9where science and industry meet, to provide detection dogs that support public safety! All of us at MK9 are pretty proud of this pup! Way to go Eldon!

27/09/2023

Just sharing some puppy love!

22/09/2023

JSU Employer Pop Up! Supporting the local community at Martin Hall!

21/09/2023

Auburn University wrapped up another trial of their learning schedule study today, we value these opportunities and the long term contributions to the working dog industry, and our pups do too!

19/09/2023

It’s been quiet around here at the start of our week, after congratulating our interns on successful completion of the program on Friday! The MK9 Team is so very thankful for all their hard work and dedication!

16/09/2023

15/09/2023

K9 Guild, showing progression with K9 Eldon one of MK9s pups!

15/09/2023

Meet Pam A VERY HAPPY MOMMA and her Pups! Payton, Pauline, Palmer, Parker, Penny, Paisley, Phoebe, Pearl and Phalon! Whelped 9/12/23 this is the #34 Litter in Alabama!

13/09/2023

Meet Intern Rebecca Kaplan! Not only does she have a bachelors degree in Canine Training And Management from Cobleskill, she has a bachelor degree in Management/Entrepreneurship and tops off her education with an MBA! She has a wealth of knowledge and she hopes to use this knowledge to help a canine company prosper and her experiences from this internship to make a lasting impact on the canine world! We were sure glad to have you Rebecca and hope you find your next opportunity very soon!

12/09/2023

Meet Intern Jordan Finch who comes to us from East Meredith, New York. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science and a Bachelor of Technology in Canine Training and Management. She was Captain of the Women's Basketball team and played throughout college. She is hoping to continue following her passion for working dogs as a detection handler and trainer.

07/09/2023

Meet Intern Olivia Lisi from Marathon, NY. Olivia graduated from SUNY Cobleskill in May with a Bachelor of Technology in Canine Training and Management. After the completion of her internship she is interested in pursuing a career in service and medical detection canines for diabetic seizure alert and cancer detection. She also would like to be a handler as well!

07/09/2023

Today, we want to take a moment to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Tim Baird for his hard work and dedication during his time with MK9 Solutions.
Tim, your commitment and efforts have been commendable, and we appreciate all the contributions you've made during this journey with us.
We wish you nothing but the best of luck in your future endeavors. May you find success and fulfillment in your path ahead. Your time with MK9 has left an indelible mark, and we're grateful for the valuable lessons we've learned together. Godspeed!

06/09/2023

Hi everyone! Meet Noelle Bisignano one of our hard-working interns from SUNY Cobleskill! Noelle hails from Columbia, CT and is a recent graduate with a Bachelor of Technology in Canine Training and Management! Noelle says, "I love working detection dogs and hope to continue working with them in some capacity, whether it be training, handling, or both, I also have a Bachelors of Arts degree in Forensic Psychology and hope to find a career that combines my passion for both mental health as well as canines" We have no doubt Noelle will do great things!

04/09/2023

Wishing all of our staff at MK9 Solutions a Happy Labor Day… or in our case Labrador Day 😉! For all of those taking care of and training the pups today Thank-you for all your hard work and dedication!

02/09/2023

K9 ELDON … One of our pups doing great things as he progresses through V***r Wake training with K9 Guild!

01/09/2023

What an amazing article shared by Jeremy Thoma! What do MK9 Pups do after they leave us? They get to work! Congratulations to the new teams!

01/09/2023

If you could put music to this picture of BIZZY what song would you pick? We will start…. THIN LIZZY —JAILBREAK 1976….. ready go!