Graham hosting police K-9 certification trials next week

Around 25 police canines and their handlers will be visiting Graham next week to participate in the United States Police Canine Association (USPCA) Region 25 certification trials.

The certification trials will be held from April 7-9 at the Young County Arena as well as other various locations in Graham. Dog breeds at the event will include German Shepherds, Belgian Malinois, Labrador Retrievers, Bloodhounds, Border Collies and more. 

The event was last held in Graham in 2022 at Newton Field and other Graham ISD facilities.

Graham Police Department K-9 Sergeant Hailey Calcote has been a handler since 2018 with her partner Wolf. This will be the seventh year the duo competes in USPCA trials. 

“(The trials are) extremely important so we can do our jobs on the street and so our dogs know what they're doing and that they're proficient in it,” Calcote said.

Calcote has been working with others to coordinate the trials this year in Graham that are required for all handlers and their canines.

“You have to certify yearly with your dog. There's multiple different organizations out there you can do it with,” Calcote said. “We choose USPCA because they set the standard, they're the best at it. There's handlers out there that won't compete in USPCA because it's so hard, it is not a cakewalk.”

Since 1971, USPCA has trained and certified police dogs in general patrol, tracking, protection, narcotic detection, explosive detection, arson, fish and game and search and rescue. 

“Under the certificates you're also competing against other handlers,” Calcote said. “There's multiple different categories you can win. There's patrol, which is the apprehension dogs. ...There's evidence in article search. ...There's the narcotics and there is tracking... and then there are the explosive dogs. They have their own category as well.”

The K-9 Corporal Miranda Wright Memorial Award is also voted on by the judges. After serving the citizens of Young County for a combined 20 years through Olney Police Department and Olney EMS, Wright passed away from colon cancer Aug. 3, 2024.

“What they're watching for (with that award) is basically good character. You're not getting mad. You're wanting to help other handlers out. Just embodying what Miranda brought to the table and how she looked at these events,” Calcote said.

Calcote said the trials will be inside the indoor portion of the arena and the competition itself will begin after lunch. 

“We'll do obedience and then we'll do area search for humans. (We will have) big boxes that a person will sit in, and there's their handful of boxes. ...The dog has to be able to tell you which box the person's hiding in,” Calcote said.

At different portions of the three-day event, the canine officers and handlers will be on Fourth Street and at North Central Texas College for non-public trials. Calcote said the public will want to attend the apprehension portion of the trials at the arena Wednesday, April 8.

“That's where the dogs are going to run down and bite somebody. The first part is cool. But for all of us, the coolest part is the second time the dog bites, because there's actually gunfire involved. ...There's two gunshots …(that are) blanks,” she said.

The pressure is on Thursday, April 9 for those doing narcotics and explosive searching because the trials will occur in the back arena. The searches are blind and the officers will not find out their results until later in the competition.

Calcote said  the public can come out to learn more about the operations of canines and their handlers who can show their coordination with their partners.

“It is a fun event. It brings a lot of people to town,” Calcote said. “You're going to see cop cars everywhere. ...We're canine handlers. We're used to going and doing demos and all that. We're fairly social creatures.”