PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Not many dogs are cut out for the intense training required to apprehend suspected criminals or detect narcotics and explosives. After the K9 is trained and ready for duty, they require the necessary tools and protection to perform effectively. This is where Spike’s K9 Fund steps in, offering custom-fit ballistic vests and protective gear. But how do they fund this? Through fundraisers like the upcoming Kipping for K9’s on April 20. For more information on this fundraiser visit spikesk9fund.org.

From stopping the bleed, to proper use of Narcan, to heat related illnesses. K9 officers from several different agencies gathered in Dunwoody to learn how to medically treat their partners in an emergency.

GREENE COUNTY — A K9 training nonprofit is coming to Greene County to provide life-saving training to K9s and their handlers in the area, a spokesperson from the school said. Spike’s School will be in Xenia starting August 23 to August 27 to further educate K9 teams with advanced Water and Land Human Remains Detection Courses.

XENIA, Ohio (WDTN) — The death toll continues to climb in Maui as search and rescue teams continue to find bodies throughout the debris with the help of search and rescue. Right here in the Miami Valley, search and rescue advanced training is happening to provide additional training to those K-9s. Nearly 2,500 search and rescue K-9s used to help with fires, water searches and finding human remains are part of this program.

NORFOLK, Va. — Five Virginia K9 dogs were fitted for $3,000 custom-fit ballistic vests in Norfolk Wednesday morning with help from Spike's K9 Fund.

The dogs, which are from the Virginia Beach Police Department, U.S. Navy and Virginia State Police, are getting the vests for free thanks to donations to Spike's K9 Fund.

According to the fund, the vests are ballistic and stab resistant, weighing on average 1.5 pounds. They fit like a second skin, allowing the K9 dogs to be fully mobile when working.

The fund said it has donated more than 1,000 ballistic vests to K9s across the country, which has saved people's lives.

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – Four Hampton Roads police dogs are receiving free life-saving protection from a nonprofit organization.

Spike’s K9 Fund says it works to equip police dogs with lifesaving gear and has provided free equipment to over 2,100 dogs across the country. In addition to gear, the nonprofit funds medical cost assistance and specialized training to the dogs they assist.

Now, the nonprofit is donating gear to four K9s in Hampton Roads.

FINNEYTOWN, Ohio — School was in session for some four-legged students Monday as more than a dozen police dogs from across the Tri-State embarked on a critical training course to better protect the community.

Fifteen K-9 teams took over the former Brent Elementary School in Finneytown for day one of Spike's K-9 Decoy School.

The three-day program focuses on helping both dogs and handlers increase their chances of safely apprehending dangerous suspects out on the streets.

Chief Mike Rompa, K-9 Handler Mary Rose Kendall,  K-9 ‘Ava’ and the entire Bolingbrook Police Department are thrilled to announce the donation of a ballistic vest to Bolingbrook Police K-9 Ava by Spike’s K-9 Fund. Spike’s K-9 Fund is a non-profit organization designed and dedicated to providing protection to working dogs.

Max, the Livermore Police Department’s drug-sniffing Belgian Malinois, has been outfitted with a new custom-fit ballistic vest from K9 Storm Inc. The vest was donated by Spike’s K9 Fund, a nonprofit organization based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Max is paired with Officer Robert Pereira.

I came across such an example last night, whereby a long line of NYPD canine cops and their service dogs assembled outside Schwarzman Animal Medical Center to honor their long-term veterinarian highly known for dedication to ensuring the health and welfare of the largest municipal law enforcement agency’s contingent of police dogs.

NEW HAVEN – A man in the Walgreen’s parking lot in Westville Friday morning reached his hand toward a nearby Belgian Malinois, letting the dog smell a white rag. Then the man walked away, crossed Whalley Avenue and disappeared behind a set of buildings. Minutes later, the dog found him, hidden amid a trash can and dumpster in a gated area behind a restaurant. The dog, who was being handled by a police officer from East Hartford, was part of a cohort learning to track scents on hard surfaces in busy areas. “We’re teaching the dog to follow the specific odor of the person they want to find,” said Jim Duncan, a master dog trainer and master police officer with the Chesapeake Police Department in Virginia. “We teach the dog to ignore everything but the scent that we show it.”

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — A member of the Lansing Police Department is better protected now thanks to a donation from a national charity.

The department’s K9 ‘Rocky’ now has an updated protective vest thanks to Spikes K9 Fund.

Officials say the new one is much lighter and easier to wear and gives great protection.

“I’m so grateful to have organizations like this provide vest for these dogs,” said Austin Brown, a K9 handler for LPD. “Their vest is just like mine, and we value their life like one of our own. So it’s very important to have them protected just like me.”

Spike’s K9 Fund provides custom fit ballistic vests protective equipment medical cost assistance–
and access to training for k9 units across the country.