Food, camaraderie and skills all part of second annual K9 competition

  • Published
  • By Ryan Stark and Lee Ross
  • Nucleus writers
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Canine units from numerous New Mexico law enforcement agencies converged on Kirtland's Military Working Dog training area May 12 and 13 to take part in Kirtland's second annual K9 competition.

377th Security Forces Group commander Col. Richard DeMouy said it is appropriate that the competition be held during police week.

Dog handlers from Albuquerque Police Department, Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office and others competed in the event.

"It's police week, and this is the right thing to do," DeMouy said.

Competitions like this help build relationships between law enforcement departments, he said.

"You get to share practices and ways that people do the same business that we do in a friendly environment," he said.

Tech Sgt. Daniel Wilson, who is in charge of Kirtland's Military Working Dog Section, said the annual event goes a long way to building camaraderie between the base's security forces and their civilian law enforcement colleagues.

"We're training together all year anyway," Wilson said. "When we're patrolling here at Kirtland there's always a chance we'll have to cross jurisdictions and we need to know civilian tactics when we're integrated."

The first competition took him about three months to organize, he said. This time it took him very little time. He's had everything ready since January, he said.

There were also seven more teams (each team consists of a dog and handler) this year.

The competition has law enforcement officers and their dogs demonstrating several common law enforcement tactics such as the "take down" of a stationary suspect and a "tough dog" maneuver where the person posing as a suspect first runs at the dog. Obedience, detection and agility are also judged.

Staff Sgt. Aaron Reason and his dog, Mex, won top dog for the competition, having won the most individual events. For winning, he gets to have his name added to a traveling trophy, which he keeps for the year.

"The competition was very stiff," he said.

Deputy 3 Vanessa Weinrick of the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office was among those taking part at the competition. She said participants gain valuable experience by spending time with fellow civilian police officers, as well as Air Force security forces.

"We don't get to spend time with each other like this unless it's on a call or at a training," she said. "And it's fun for the dogs."

Reason said he comes in on his days off to work with his dog and get better. Having won, he said, he is even more motivated to practice so he can keep the trophy next year.

After the awards ceremony, Kevin Sonka served the Airmen and spectators a Cajun boil dinner, complete with carrots, potatoes, crawdads and shrimp.

Sonka puts on the dinners as part of Feed the Dawgs, a charity that serves meals for more than 40 military working dog kennels across the United States. Sonka is responsible for the Rocky Mountain Dog Project, which serves much of the Southwest.

He said he has always done catering, but these dinners are special for him.

"I've never done anything better," he said. "I haven't met a bad dog handler yet."

Sonka's son, Marine Cpl. David Sonka, and his dog, Flex, were killed in Afghanistan on May 4, 2013. David Sonka was 23 and was training the Afghan police when he was shot by an insurgent.

Sonka brought with him a leash his son used to walk the family dog.

"Our goal is to never forget," he said. "I'm going to let everybody know about what these guys do and why we have our freedom and I'm going to do it for as long as I can."

This year's competition coincided with National Police Week, an annual observance that honors law enforcement officers, especially those killed in the line of duty.