Spike’s K9 Fund organizes tracking courses for police and search and rescue dogs

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) – A national nonprofit made a stop in Nashville this week to help train police and search and rescue dogs.

Spike’s K9 Fund organized a three-day Tracker School, which was offered free of charge to participants. Members of the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, including Officer Ryan Coll and his partner K9 Diesel, participated.

“Our main goal is to go out and apprehend these suspects who have escaped or gone into the woods,” Officer Coll said.

Coll and Diesel have been linked for about three years and have worked together for the past two years.

“I spend more time with this dog than I do with my wife and kids,” Coll said.

The duo was one of about fifteen participants in the training class on Thursday.

“This course is specifically used to help the dogs become more efficient at tracking,” said Emily Gray, CEO of Spike’s K9 Fund.

It’s not just about apprehending suspects, the skills learned at the tracking school also help search and rescue crews locate missing people.

“They can pick up a scent from your shoes and clothes and follow it to a place we would never have been able to track. These dogs can smell 30 to 50 feet underwater,” Gray said.

Click here for more information about Spike’s K9 Fund.

The organization has helped train nearly 3,000 police and search and rescue dogs across the country.

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