Deputy Cole Yungbauer portrayed the criminal during the K9 demonstration at the Tri-County Health Care Block Party. Yungbauer pushed Deputy and K9 Handler Troy Wangsness which caused K9 Nitro to burst into action as he leapt at Yungbauer and latched on to the bite sleeve.
Nitro in action...
Deputy Cole Yungbauer portrayed the criminal during the K9 demonstration at the Tri-County Health Care Block Party. Yungbauer pushed Deputy and K9 Handler Troy Wangsness which caused K9 Nitro to burst into action as he leapt at Yungbauer and latched on to the bite sleeve.
Nitro, the furriest new deputy
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by Trinity Gruenberg
The Wadena County Sheriff’s Office welcomed their newest deputy. He is well liked by all in the office. He is definitely the hairiest of the deputies and really enjoys his ball.
Deputy Troy Wangsness introduced his new partner, K9 Nitro, on June 23.
Nitro is a two-year-old German Shepherd from the Czech Republic.
Wangsness has been with the sheriff’s office for 12 years. It was his goal to become a K9 handler. He was in a good place professionally and personally to achieve his goal.
“K9 positions are very demanding. They live with them, train with them, there is a lot of work. Troy is in a good place in his career to do this and it’s a good fit for him,” said Sheriff Mike Carr.
Previously Wangsness assisted Deputy Bryan Savaloja train K9 Zeus.
“He worked a lot with Bryan and Zeus taking bites and just training with them. He had an understanding of what the K9 position entailed,” said Carr.
When Zeus retired, it gave Wangsness the opportunity to apply for the position. He scored the highest on the interview. He was selected for the position and spent six weeks in The Cities to train with his new partner. Wangsness shared it was some of the hardest training he had endured. His training consisted of personal training, which included cardio, where the mornings and afternoons were spent training with Nitro. . . .