All posts by Rene Averett

RIP K9 Rony

We were saddened today to learn that K9 Rony has passed. He was a sweetheart of a dog and a favorite with the community. The Sheriff’s Office posted this earlier today:

The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office honors the life and service of retired K9 Rony. K9 Rony was a beloved member of the WCSO K9 team and bravely served our community for six years alongside his partner, retired Sergeant Jason Wood.

K9 Rony was dual-certified in narcotics detection, patrol work, tracking, and article searches. During his service, he participated in countless community and school events and was well known and loved for his gentle disposition.

Rony was a cherished member of his family and will be greatly missed.
Rest easy, K9 Rony; we honor your tremendous service to our community.

“Born to love, trained to serve, loyal to the end.”

Our sympathy to Sgt. Wood and his family on the loss of this much-loved K9.

Great Barks & Badges Event!

Wow! What a great day we had at Barks & Badges. Thank you everybody for coming out to enjoy the event. The K9s and equines did wonderful demos. Our new dogs, Otto and Brutus got their first experience of being in front of an audience and they did admirably. I think they were a little excited, but still followed instructions.

We had some great vendors and booths with information from Washoe County Service and the First Responders. Many people stopped by to say hello and purchase our new K9 tee shirts. Thank you so much! All the proceeds from the sales go to provide for our Washoe County K9s!

License plate design for K9 Partners plate.

At this event, we officially announced a new and exciting project! K9 Partners has been approved for a Nevada license plate. We hope everyone will show their support by purchasing this new plate when it becomes available. Yes, it adds a little extra to your car registration but the money will go toward our planned K9 Training Center for Northern Nevada. This is a needed facility for the deputies and dogs to get all the training to help them better serve our communities.

For more information about the license plates, go to our new License Plate page. You can sign up for our information mailing list at license@k9partners.org

RIP K9 Murphy

K9 Murphy at Barks and Badges 2019, his last appearance at this event before his retirement.

All of us at K9 Partners are deeply saddened by the news we received yesterday, May 30th, 2023, of K9 Murphy’s passing. He seemed an unlikely law enforcement dog, but he was a great drug dog and the absolute best meet-and-greet dog. Kids and adults loved him and he loved the attention. He was a hit at every demo he did. Our deepest sympathy to Captain Gamboa and his family on their loss.

Video from KOLO about Barks & Badges

Today, Diana Lee from K9 Partners, along with Sgt. Nemeth, and Deputy Grulli with K9 Jett were on KOLO Channel 8, talking about the Barks and Badges event happening this weekend. They talked about everything we have scheduled and how they want the public to meet the dogs. Diana also hinted at a BIG reveal that will be done at the event and if you want to be among the first to know, be at Bartley Ranch this weekend.

Click on this link to view the video from KOLO Channel 8: https://www.kolotv.com/video/2023/06/01/barks-badges/https://www.kolotv.com/video/2023/06/01/barks-badges/

Barks and Badges is Saturday, June 3rd from 10 am to 3 pm. This is FREE admission for everyone. Please leave your pets at home though.

Barks & Badges This Weekend!

Don’t forget this is happening this coming weekend! This will be a great event and it looks like the weather will cooperate to give us a warm, sunny day for this fun and interesting event. Lots of vendors will be there and we have a few food trucks. Hope to see ya’ll there!

Barks & Badges – We Need Vendors & Volunteers!

Whoa! Barks and Badges is just a little over two months away on June 3rd and we still have open spaces for Vendors! If you’d like to have a free space for your business or organization, please contact us! More information is on this Vendor page.

We’re also looking for volunteer helpers for the day to assist with set up, take down, helping out in the booths or fetching things. If you are willing to give us a couple of hours or the whole day, please contact us at info@K9Partners.org

K9 Veterans Day

From the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, this is an appreciation for all the K9s who have served our county and thanks to the ones currently on active duty.

We are so thankful to all the brave pups, now and in the past, and their partners, for all they do every day to keep us all safe, locally and all over the world!

To see our many previous K9s, go to our tribute page.

Welcome to our new K9!

Exciting news for all of us! Drumroll please…🥁🥁….

Introducing K9 Otto!!

K9 Otto is the newest addition to the WCSO K9 team!! This handsome boy is partnered with Deputy Locke.

K9 Otto is a German Shepherd, born in Holland on 5-7-21. With this new addition, our Washoe County K9 unit is up to full strength with eight active K9 officers. Welcome to the team K9 Otto and Deputy Locke!

K9 Otto meets the Sheriff!

RIP to K9 Kir

K9 Kir with Deputy Suzanne Fisher

We just heard about the loss of another of our retired K9s. K9 Kir passed on January 11th, 2023. Our condolences to the Fisher family on this sad event. This statement is from the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office.

The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office grieves the passing of retired K9 Kir. Kir was born on March 21, 2011, in the Czech Republic and was paired with his partner Deputy Suzanne Fisher in 2013.

Kir was certified in tracking, article detection, narcotics and patrol before being assigned to the Washoe County Detention Facility, the Second Judicial District Court and the Reno Justice Court. Kir retired in 2016 and was named the 1st official “spokesdog” of Kinetic Dog Food later that year.

Kir spent most of his retirement lounging in any body of water he could get into, playing in the snow and riding in “his” side by side. Kir never stopped working – he continued to protect his family and keep guard until his final breath.

K9 Kir passed away on January 11, 2023, with his family beside him. His family will remember him as loyal, protective, adventurous and the BEST boy there ever was.