(JPSO) – Deputy Kerry Mullins and K9 Sting have recently completed a multi-week Advanced K9 Handler Course through Thorn K9, continuing the growth and development of the Jackson Parish Sheriff’s Office K9 program.

Becoming an effective K9 team takes much more than simply pairing a handler and dog. It takes time, repetition, communication, and a strong understanding of how each partner works. Throughout training, Deputy Mullins and Sting spent extensive time building that working relationship while learning to operate together in a variety of law enforcement situations.

Their training included obedience, detection, tracking, searches, apprehension work, and patrol-based scenarios. Each exercise was designed not only to develop Sting’s abilities, but also to teach Deputy Mullins how to recognize changes in behavior, read his K9 partner, make sound deployment decisions, and maintain control in different environments.

The course also included classroom instruction covering the responsibilities that come with serving as a K9 handler, including documentation, legal considerations, training practices, and preparation for situations in which K9 deployments may later be reviewed or presented in court.

After completing this training, Deputy Mullins and K9 Sting will continue building those skills through regular training and field experience. Their partnership gives the Jackson Parish Sheriff’s Office another valuable resource to assist with searches, tracking, detection, evidence location, patrol operations, and other situations where a trained K9 team will be beneficial.

“We are very proud to have Deputy Kerry Mullins serving as part of the Jackson Parish Sheriff’s Office K9 Program, and we look forward to seeing the continued development of Deputy Mullins and K9 Sting as a team,” said Jackson Parish Sheriff Brent Barnett.