Thor joins Zionsville Police Dept.

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By Heather Lusk

Next week, the Zionsville Police Dept.’s newest member will start work.

CIZ COM 1031 Thor joins ZPD
ZPD Officer Jacob Shelburne and Thor. (Photo by Heather Lusk)

K-9 Thor will begin his duties with officer Jacob Shelburne after a six-week training course at Vohne Liche Kennels in Denver, Ind.

Thor and Shelburne were among 17 dog and handler teams to recently complete training at Vohne Liche. Many were from the Midwest, but some came from Georgia and Hawaii.

“It’s a lot of work, physically and mentally,” Shelburne said.

Shelburne said the beginning of the program focused on commands before moving into scenario-based training such as detection work, area searches and apprehension.

“Pretty much everything that we would do on the streets we’re doing in these six weeks,” Shelburne said.

Thor is being trained in narcotic and explosives detection, tracking and searching and will be used as a full-service K-9 in Zionsville. He wears different collars and equipment,  depending on the job he’s expected to perform.

“They know what you’re doing, that what’s about to happen,” Shelburne said.

Shelburne said he’s also spent the last several weeks bonding with Thor.

“They’ll do anything for you once they attach to you. I definitely see that with Thor,” Shelburne said. “He’s more motivated to do work for me.”

Thor was brought to Vohne Liche from the Netherlands, and his commands are primarily given in Dutch. The 2-year-old Belgian Malinois is the same breed as the other ZPD K-9, Jelka. The dogs will work alternative shifts, so they won’t regularly cross paths.

Thor replaces Eso, a canine who retired this summer because of health issues.

Jelka and Eso also were obtained from Vohne Liche, one of the world’s largest training facilities for police and military service dogs.


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