T-L File Photos Belmont County Sheriff’s Detective Dustin Hilderbrand is on the receiving end during a demonstration by K-9 officer Maximums and handler Tyler Grant during the Belmont County Fair.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Belmont County’s K-9 officers are integral to law enforcement, whether assisting in detecting drugs during traffic stops, searching for suspects or missing persons, protecting their handlers or chasing down perpetrators.

The Times Leader reached out to local law enforcement agencies and asked about the skills and personalities of their respective K-9s. Currently, there are six dogs on duty with various county departments, in addition to a couple of therapy/mascot animals.

Martins Ferry Police Chief John McFarland said K-9 officers are invaluable to police work.

“The world we live in right now, with drug addictions, the overdoses, now crystal meth, methamphetamines, just in Belmont County you have people overdosing every day. … We need more dogs out there because there’s a lot of times … for example midnight shift recently, they had to call Wheeling PD’s dog over because there were none available in Belmont County. It’s definitely a big thing when it comes to making drug arrests and getting drug dealers put in jail. … They’re a giant asset to the work that we do,” McFarland said.

Residents of the Martins Ferry area may have seen the city’s K-9 officer on duty.

“His name is Linus, and he’s going on 3 years old … He was about a year old when we got him,” McFarland said, adding that Linus is a Dutch Shepherd. “Most of the dogs in the county are dual-purpose dogs, for narcotics and article search.”

Linus’ prior handler, John Holmes, is taking on duties as a resource officer in the Martins Ferry City School District, so the K-9 is retraining with Officer Jon Bodkin for traffic stops.

McFarland said the need for a K-9 in the city is great with the presence of a major highway in Ohio 7.

“We’ve been getting a lot of drugs in traffic stops lately, and sometimes we have to use K-9 dogs from different departments. Sometimes there aren’t enough K-9s to utilize,” McFarland said.

He said the retraining process may last five weeks, since Linus is starting “from scratch” with Bodkin.

The department’s prior K-9, Ecko, a Belgian Malinois, was obtained through Storm Dog Training in Columbus. Ecko was in service for about five years.

“He had retired first because of a knee injury and lived a civilian life for a couple years,” McFarland said. “He was a great dog. … Ecko, he was the perfect K-9 dog. I remember when we used to have the July 4 celebration (on the Martins Ferry City School District campus) Ecko would be up here and every kid could pet Ecko. He was a person dog.”

He said Linus, by contrast, is all business.

In addition, McFarland said the department also recently received a donation of $15,000 to cover a second K-9. He will ask the mayor and City Council for funds to outfit a vehicle for another dog.

In St. Clairsville, Officer Kevin Yates, who is also a state-certified K-9 and handler instructor, partners with Odin, a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois, originally from Holland. Odin has been with the department for about two years and specializes in drug detection, tracking and apprehension.

Police Chief Matt Arbenz said Odin has tracked and apprehended escaped subjects, suspects who fled police after breaking and entering, and has numerous drug finds on traffic stops.

Arbenz describes Odin’s personality as “very high drive and extreme focus for working, a dog for an experienced professional handler only.”

Odin took over for the prior K-9, Beau, who Arbenz said is enjoying retirement after serving eight years on the force.

Arbenz also said K-9s have been valuable for officer and community safety, as well as community relations.

“K-9s tend to bring welcome attention and conversations from the public and gives them a positive reason to interact with law enforcement,” Arbenz said via email.

Barnesville Police Chief Rocky Sirianni said his department’s K-9, Croc, is a German Shepherd, about 4 years old. The department got him at age 2. Sirianni said the dog has had a variety of uses.

“He can find drugs, he can find and apprehend bad guys, and he can find basically anything that has a human scent on it, like if somebody threw a gun into the woods or something. … if there was a young person or an elderly person missing in the woods,” Sirianni said. “He’s assisted us in multiple apprehensions, and he has found a lot of drugs.

His handler is Officer Edward Kubat. Sirianni said they train regularly with the sheriff’s office K-9 officers. Croc’s mind is on the job.

“He’s actually a pretty aggressive dog,” Sirianni said. “He’s just a working dog. He likes to play and have fun with the handler, but when it’s time to work it’s time to work – that’s pretty much all he knows. … We’ve done some presentations and demonstrations (at schools), but definitely the kind of dog you don’t want to approach without asking the handler first, or you don’t want to run up and pet the dog. The dog is trained to react to things.”

He said the department’s prior K-9, Dixie, retired around 2020.

“It’s just great we’re able to have that in our community, I know not every department has a K-9, it’s really invaluable to us,” Sirianni said. “Most of the funding for the dog is raised through donations and other programs. … The public and the community, that’s what keeps the unit going.”

At the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office, Deputy Tyler Grant works with Maximus, a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois dual purpose dog who handles narcotics, apprehension and tracking. Other K-9 unit officers are Detective Dustin Hilderbrand and Xyrem, a 6-year-old Belgian Malinois, and Detective Jason Schwarck and Copper, a 7-year-old Labrador who specializes in narcotics detection.

Grant said Maximus is a more people-oriented dog and was on duty during the Blame My Roots Fest country music concerts in July.

“He likes attention. He’s able to walk around, people pet him, very playful,” Grant said. “Xyrem’s the same way. … They lean a lot on people, that’s kind of their MO. Copper’s more of a quiet, keeps-to-himself kind of dog.”

He added the handlers train with their partners about 16 hours a month.

Grant said he was surprised at the bond he would form with Maximus.

“The interdiction spot’s what I wanted, and the dog came with it. I didn’t really want the dog at first, but now that I’m with him I won’t let go of him, he’s part of the family now,” Grant said, adding that the K-9s have been invaluable. “He’s apprehended a suspect on a 4-mile trek before. He’s also seized kilos of narcotics before. He’s done several things as far as traffic stops … area searches, he’s located a few people hiding in the woods. Xyrem’s done the exact same thing. … All the dogs have been successful.”

Special mention goes to the sheriff’s office therapy dogs as well. Jersey, a 4-year-old St. Bernard, is often seen at the courthouse with handler Jennifer Yuhase, either in the lobby or providing comfort to children and families testifying in court. Loki, a 2-year-old mixed pomeranian-husky, is Sheriff David Lucas’ pet and the department’s unofficial mascot.