Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office's new K9 dog, McCoy, has adjusted well to his new life

Winneshiek County Deputy Steve Nesvik and K9 Deputy McCoy

It's been a year since McCoy began working as the new K9 dog at the Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office. McCoy is a 2 ½ year old Belgian Malinois who specializes in tracking and locating people as well as drug detection.

McCoy comes to work every day his handler, Deputy Steve Nesvik, comes to work. They work eight hour shifts, six days on, two days off. McCoy usually hangs out in the back seat area of Nesvik's patrol car, which has a special platform for him, instead of the usual back seat. The car is equipped with a safety precaution--the windows roll down automatically if the inside car temperature reaches 80 degrees.

On the days McCoy comes inside the Sheriff's Office, he likes to check out each room. It's his way of saying "hi" to the person in the room and making sure the room is all clear. Part of his training is to search buildings for narcotics. He will sniff around the room, go to the person sitting at their desk and wait for a pat of recognition. Then he continues on to the next room and repeats his routine. After his morning greetings, he settles in his kennel in Deputy Nesvik's office.

Deputy Nesvik and McCoy train for 16 hours each month. They occasionally make a trip to Waterloo for training, but most of the training is obedience and tracking training around Winneshiek County. One way they train is with narcotic "hides." Deputy Nesvik will hide narcotics, then have McCoy try to find it. They often work in open areas where the scent becomes trickier. Wind can play a big factor in the locating the scent.

Deputy Nesvik is equipped with a pop and release mechanism in his uniform. If he encounters a dangerous situation while on duty, he can press the device and the back side passenger door automatically opens to release McCoy. The dog has been trained to aid Deputy Nesvik by biting the person attacking the deputy when that door opens.

This past year McCoy has been kept busy. He has had several public demonstration trips, showcasing his tracking abilities at Aase Haugen, Boy Scout troops and public schools, including S.T.E.A.M. at Decorah Middle School.

McCoy has been involved in 50 official deployments this past year, including building searches, traffic stops and jail cell searches. The Sheriff's Office conducts two random jail cell searches each month and McCoy is involved with each of those.

When McCoy is off duty, he spends his days and nights with Deputy Steve Nesvik and family. Mc Coy gets plenty of attention from their three year old daughter. The Nesviks have had two K-9 dogs live with them the past eight years.

McCoy has a high drive towards balls and ball play is used as his reward

McCoy's back seat