NEVADA – Gunner is a Dutch Shepard born in the United States with an intelligent, lively and athletic temperament. His family roots extend back several generations to the Netherlands. Gunner’s ancestors were all-purpose farm dogs, guarding livestock. Now, they have evolved into hard working and loyal companions. “I do keep to my roots and my partner speaks Dutch to me sometimes, although he only knows a handful of words,” said Gunner.

When Gunner was younger, he was put through several different ability tests to explore what type of professional career areas he would do well in. It was determined by his trainers that he excelled in finding narcotics and tracking, which resulted in him being a perfect fit for a law enforcement career. However, the type of law enforcement branch or agency Gunner would eventually go work for was not determined at the time.

One day, USDA Forest Service Law Enforcement Officer Jon Knudson from the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest showed up looking for a new K9 partner. Gunner remembers that Jon looked at seven other dogs before him. To ensure a good match, Jon took each dog outside to try to form a connection with them.

Gunner’s first impression of Jon was that he was nice, and had cool job working out in the woods. Gunner decided to impress Jon with his good looks (dark shiny brindle coat) and understanding of basic commands of sit, follow and stay that the other seven dogs failed to do. That led to a fun and relaxing interaction of playing ball together. According to Gunner, there was never a question that they were meant to be partners.

Jon and Gunner then attended CJ’s Police K9s Academy in Northern California to learn how to work together as a team. For Gunner, the training involved advanced tracking, finding narcotics and patrol “bite work.” However, he discovered the most important skill he would learn was how to protect his partner.

Jon and Gunner drilled in multiple locations and various law enforcement scenarios. They trained at schools, stores, a potato processing plant and in the outdoors. One of Gunner’s most memorable moments was when Jon and he ran down an empty school hallway for the first time. It was hard for both to stop on the slick floors.

“We would also do obstacle courses which helped us build trust,” added Gunner. “It was rather fun to watch Jon demonstrate crawling through a pipe in full gear on his hands and knees to try and get me to do it too.” Gunner explained that he would usually just run around to the other side and meet him at the end.

It took working together five days a week for three consecutive months to learn how to protect one another and have each other’s backs no matter the situation. At the end of training, Jon and Gunner were true partners and friends. “Don’t tell my partner, but we all know the training we went through was mainly for him,” laughed Gunner. “Jon was a little clueless at first.”

Now that Gunner is on the job, he thinks it is amazing. “I get to do all the fun stuff and my partner Jon does all the paperwork,” said Gunner. “We also get to travel all over and see some interesting stuff.”

One of Gunner’s most challenging assignments was at Burning Man, an event in the Black Rock Desert in northwestern Nevada that attracts over 78,000 people annually. He found it difficult to stay focused on searching vehicles with all the uniquely outfitted people and strange cars. “How can you pay attention to what you are doing when a car shaped like an octopus roars by you shooting flames into the air,” added Gunner.

Gunner favors working in the outdoors because he thinks his indoor etiquette is not the best. When he is working in a house and Jon calls him to look for a person or narcotics, Gunner will jump over tables and couches and crawl under beds. If he does not fit, Gunner tends to knock over everything, which tests Jon’s reflexes with catching lamps falling off tables.  

“I love my job and take great pride in it,” said Gunner. “When Jon gets suited up in his uniform and puts on my law enforcement collar, I know it is time for us to go to work. The best part is that I do not know what we are going to do that day. I could be searching for narcotics, tracking someone in the woods or visiting schools to help teach and make new friends. I just know that every day, Jon has to chauffeur me around.”

Gunner loves his job working as a Forest Service K9 Law Enforcement Officer on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. He does think sometimes people think he is mean, especially during training when he pounces on someone wearing the bite suit. “Actually, I like playing with the bite suit, but if you really look closely, you will see my tail wagging because I am happy,” explained Gunner.

When asked what his most memorable and proudest moments has been so far has, Gunner replied, “My most memorable was during one of our school visits and I watched my partner Jon get tongue tied reading a Dr. Seuss book to the kids.”

“My proudest was on a separate occasion when I was able to track a fleeing suspect for over a half-mile and found him curled up under a tree. Oh boy, was he surprised,” exclaimed Gunner.