The 2012 Canadian Police Canine championships occurred this past week, hosted by the Regina Police Service. The competition included 30 dog teams from across Canada and one from Belgium who participated.
Cst. Jon Zielinski and his canine partner Zeke placed first overall and were crowned as the 2012 Canadian National Champions!
The trials included multiple events like suspect tracking, obedience, building searches and criminal apprehension. Zeke placed 1st in tracking, 1st in obedience, (obtaining an unheard of perfect score!), 1st in building searches, and 5th in criminal apprehension.
Zeke is a 4 year old pure bred shepherd from Germany and has been partnered with Cst. Zielinski for 2 years. Jon is a 9 year veteran of the Saanich Police serving over half his career in the Canine section.
Saanich has a long history of canine champions. In 2008, Jon and his former partner Bauer placed 3rd overall in Canada at the national championships.
“We are very proud of how our canine teams performed at the championships and congratulate Jon and Zeke on their first place finish. This achievement builds on the outstanding accomplishments of Saanich canine teams over the past 20 years,” says Saanich Police Chief Mike Chadwick.
Congratulations to Jon and Zeke.
To learn more about the Saanich Police Canine section and to see some photos click on the link:
