The Dare County Sheriff’s Office Canine units consists of teams that are assigned to various locations throughout Dare County. Their goal is to create a safe work environment for law enforcement and to be more efficient in numerous tasks that occur through the use of these specially trained canines and their handlers.

The canine teams work regular uniform patrol in their assigned districts and respond to a variety of calls. Their specialties include narcotics detection, criminal apprehension, building searches, area searches, evidence detection, tracking missing persons, tracking fleeing criminal suspects and protection of their handlers. They also participate in numerous civic functions and educational demonstrations. 

The canines were purchased from a respected canine trainer and live at home with their handlers. They are certified annually by a nationally recognized police canine organization by independent judges. All the canines and their handlers must have continuous, rigorous training to maintain their skills. This ongoing training is required to maintain the level of effectiveness and efficiency of each canine team. 

The Dare County Sheriff’s Office K-9’s are an integral part of our patrol and narcotics units and they put forth a tremendous amount of hard work and dedication to help ensure that the citizens and visitors of Dare County are provided with the level of protection they deserve.