K-9 Unit            Gallery           History

Left: Officer Ben Hardgrove and Packo

Right: Officer Ryan Williams and Grendel

K-9 Grendel and Officer Williams have been working as a team for the City of Fond du Lac since March 2006.  Grendel is a dual-purpose K-9 that is certified in tracking, protection and narcotics detection.  Grendel is a German Shepherd from Hungary.  He was trained at Northern Michigan K-9.  Since his time on the road Grendel has been responsible for numerous successful trackings of suspects and drug arrests.  He has been a great asset to the City of Fond du Lac and surrounding areas.  Grendel’s handler, Officer Williams, has been employed with the City of Fond du Lac since 2002.

Special thanks to Marie Kuber who made Grendel's acquisition possible, Pet Smart for donating Nutro Brand High Performance dog food and Dr. Thompson at Country Hills Veterinary Health for providing veterinary services to Grendel.

During the Fall of 2007 Officer Ben Hardgrove was selected as the newest K-9 Officer.  In September he attended a month-long K-9 handler class at Steinig Tal Kennels in Campbellsport, Wisconsin, under the direction of Larry Filo and Angie Fink.  There, Officer Hardgrove was teamed up with his partner, Packo.  Packo was a two and a half year old German Shepherd trained as a dual purpose patrol and narcotics detection dog.  Upon graduation, Officer Hardgrove and Packo returned to the night shift patrol.

Packo is a certified aggressive alert drug detection dog trained to scratch, bite or bark at the odor of marijuana, cocaine, heroine and methamphetamine.  Packo is also trained to locate and apprehend criminals, track lost or endangered persons and protect his handler.

Special thanks to Dr. Ann Sosalla and Companion Animal Care for providing Packo's veterinary services and PetSmart for donating his food.