K-9 Teams

Police canines are an excellent locating tool, as they have a powerful sense of smell. Officers Johnson and Musich duties include city-wide patrol functions. As part of the Police Department's commitment to community oriented policing, Officer Johnson and Officer Musich also conduct public demonstrations with their canine teams.  They continuously train their canines with other area canine teams to remain proficient in their canine duties. They must be certified annually through the National Police Canine Association (NPCA), in the areas of patrol dog and narcotics detection.

Police canines are trained in the following areas:

• Tracking
• Building searches
• Open area searches
• Article of evidence searches
• Suspect apprehensions
• Narcotics detection

Kash and Zeke are the 11th and 12th canines deployed by the Police Department since 1986, when the canine program began.

Police Officer Zach Johnson and K-9 Partner Kash
Officer Johnson has been a Police Officer since December of 2014. He became a canine handler in July of 2019 and is partnered with his current canine partner Kash. Officer Johnson and K-9 Kash graduated from canine training in November of 2019 from Performance Kennels Inc. in Buffalo, MN. Kash is a Belgian Malinois/German Shepherd Cross.

Police Officer Brett Musich and K-9 Partner Zeke
Officer Musich has been with the Moorhead Police Department since January of 2017 and became a canine handler in February of 2021. Officer Musich is partnered with his current canine partner Zeke. Officer Musich and K-9 Zeke graduated from canine training in April of 2021 from K-9 Defense LLC in Phoenix, AZ. Zeke is a German shepherd dog from Arizona.

Questions, Demonstrations and Donations

For more information regarding the K-9 Unit, to request a public demonstration, or to make a monetary donation to our canine unit, please contact canine supervisor, SGT Joseph Brannan or call 218. 299.5233.