Cherokee Sheriff's K9s Retire From Duty

CHEROKEE COUNTY, GA — Two of the Cherokee Sheriff's Office best deputies are officially retiring, K9 Dyno and K9 Dixon. Each of these two K9s has served Cherokee County for more than seven years, or more than 49 dog years.

On Monday, both dogs and their handlers, Cpl. Mark Paterson and Cpl. Matthew Verber were awarded Meritorious Service medals for their service and sacrifices.

Patterson and K9 Dyno have served the citizens of Cherokee County, as well as responded when called upon to help in other jurisdictions where a K9 was needed. During their time together, Patterson and K9 Dyno have conducted:

• 28 bomb threats and prevention searches
• Located two live explosive devices
• 37 tracks
• 10 building searches
• 15 perimeter details
• 16 area searches
• 66 public demonstrations
• 8 apprehensions

In addition, they responded to the FedEx Active Shooter and were recognized by the Cobb County Rotary Club for their service. They have received numerous awards including an American Legion Award for Public Service in 2014 and a Sheriff’s Commendation in 2017. They also won first place in the explosive search competition at the NNDDA South Georgia K9 workshop.

The partnership of Corporal Patterson and K9 Dyno have been an invaluable asset in the mission of keeping Cherokee County safe place to live, work and play.

Verber and K9 Dixon performed their duties as a team in support of agency goals and objectives.

K9 Dixon performed multiple tracks for dangerous criminals throughout his career, including but not limited to locating an armed robbery suspect on Canton Street. K9 Dixon was instrumental in locating items of evidence in multiple criminal cases such as finding items related to an armed robbery in Woodstock over a mile from the incident location, along with firearms hidden in wooded areas after domestic disputes in the county.

As a narcotic detection dog, K9 Dixon has been a stalwart of the agency. He possesses an unrivaled ability in the area of drug detection, often leading to him being specifically requested by outside agencies and departments in need of his services.

K9 Dixon successfully located two kilos of methamphetamine for the D.E.A. which was buried behind a trailer for over one year; this was done the day after being cleared for duty due to having surgery. In addition to the hundreds of deployments related to the enforcement of criminal law, K9 Dixon and Verber impacted the lives of thousands of school children with their demonstrations at schools and public events throughout the years.

The partnership of Verber and K9 Dixon have been an invaluable asset in the mission of keeping Cherokee County a safe place to live, work and play.

Both K9s will spend retirement living with Patterson and Verber.