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Michigan State Police Adds Four New Canine Teams
61 Canines Assigned Statewide
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 18, 2025
LANSING, MICH. The Michigan State Police (MSP) is pleased to announce that Michigan residents will soon benefit from the services of four new canine teams, as well three replacement teams, that graduated from the MSP 2025 Basic Canine School today.
With this graduating class, the MSP has 42 canine teams strategically placed throughout the state whose handlers answer calls for service 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Collectively, the unit has 61 canines and handles more than 6,100 requests for service annually, making it one of the largest and busiest in the country.
“Our canine teams provide an invaluable service to our police partners and the communities we protect,” said Col. James F. Grady II, director of the MSP. “They cover every corner of our state, whenever the need arises, helping locate missing and vulnerable individuals, finding firearms used to commit crimes and taking drugs off the streets.”
The Basic Canine School is a 14-week intense training program conducted in-house by veteran MSP Canine Unit members. The handlers received more than 500 hours of instruction, and the canine teams covered more than 100 miles on foot as they received training in various disciplines including tracking, narcotics detection, building search, area search, property search, obedience and aggression.
The MSP Canine Unit was established in 1960. Nearly all its canines are German Shepherds due to the breed's ability to handle the various functions and stress with intelligent problem-solving abilities and a high work drive. The unit provides services in firearm, cyber, explosive, accelerant and cadaver detection, as well as the tactical entry dog program, which provides services to the MSP Emergency Support Team.
The MSP 2025 Basic and Replacement Canine School graduates include:
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Handler
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Canine
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Post Assignment
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Tpr. Luke Shafer
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Koda
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Tri-City Post
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Tpr. Brendan Gute
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Deke
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Cadillac Post
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Tpr. Michael Clemons
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Ruze
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Lakeview Post
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Tpr. Austin Taylor
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Kilo
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Alpena Post
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Tpr Dieter Kochan*
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Roy
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Calumet Post
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Tpr. Benjamin Sonstrom*
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Zorro
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2nd District Headquarters
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Tpr. Adam Whited*
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Fenrir
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Houghton Lake Post
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*indicates replacement team
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Media Contact:
Lori Dougovito, MSP Communications & Outreach Division, 517-281-9586 or [email protected]
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