Smith County deputy and K9 officer place second in competition

SMITH COUNTY – Our news partner, KETK, reports that a Smith County deputy and K9 placed second out of 39 teams at a narcotics competition in Florida.

According to the Smith County Precinct 5 Constable’s Office, Deputy Alvin Gordon and K9 Blaze attended the National Narcotics Detector Dog Association (NNDDA) National Training Conference at the Hyatt Conference Center in Titusville, Fla., from April 7 through April 11, where they competed against other K9s and handlers.

NNDDA holds an annual seminar for hundreds of K9s and their handlers with extensive training, including K9 liability, K9 supervisor’s course, training sites and certification, K9 troubleshooting problems, patrol competition, and narcotics competition. Officials said Gordon and Blaze came home with second place in the narcotics competition out of 39 teams.

“We could not be prouder of these two, and the work they do for Smith County,” the precinct 5 constable’s office said.