Newly selected canine officer Bartholomew County Sheriff Deputy Dylan Prather was among those traveling to a northern Indiana kennel to find a new sheriff department dog earlier this year in the wake of the tragic death of K9 Diesel.
And while there, he said he knew instantly which dog should become his work partner, as soon as he was handed Szabi’s leash.
“I just said, ‘that’s the dog’ — we just knew right away,” Prather said.
It isn’t the first time that Prather, who has assisted the K9 programs of the sheriff’s department and Columbus Police Department since high school and college, has known right away about something.
Back then, he knew that someday, he wanted to be a canine officer.
“It’s always been my dream,” Prather said of becoming the department’s newest handler, with the newest K9 Szabi assigned to him.
Being rookies together in this newest assignment is something that suits Prather, who is enjoying getting to know his new role, and continuing training and learning.
“We just want to work at being the best we can be,” Prather said as he began his third shift on June 30, working midnights with Szabi. “It’s been two nights so far and we haven’t caught any bad guys or found any drugs — yet.”
Prather, who found an interest in law enforcement while attending Columbus North High School, chose the canine program as his focus for a senior project, a decision that led to massive positive publicity for the program. Prather astounded the community in 2013 and 2014 by raising more than $15,000 to acquire a Shepherd Malinois named Max for the Columbus Police Department.
Read more on this story in Sunday’s Republic.
