Area conservation officers have new dog team in training

A new police dog named after two area counties is going through training and is expected to be on duty in May.

According to the Jennings County Sheriff’s Department, Indiana conservation officer Zack Walker started training last month with his new dog Jaycie. The sheriff says the new dog was purchased in part by Jennings County Sheriff’s Office, Jennings County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office. And her name represents the counties’ initials.

Jaycie is a flatcoat retriever and she is 1 and a half years old.

The training is taking place at Patoka Lake. Dogs will be certified in man tracking, area searches/evidence recovery and wildlife detection. That will include being able to sniff out deer, turkey, waterfowl and ginseng.

There are four dog teams taking part in this round of training, three from Indiana and one from Arkansas. The dogs have already gone through more than 100 training tracks and are expected to graduate in late May.

Photo courtesy of Jennings County Sheriff’s Department.