Three countries will be represented at the K9 Olympics beginning June 13 in Muncie.
For the fourth consecutive year, the Muncie Police Department and the Vohne Liche Kennels are holding the K9 Olympics.
Starting Thursday and concluding Friday, officers and their K9s will participate in training and competition.
Seventeen of the best K9 trainers will be training the participants, Ken Licklider, owner of Vohne Liche Kennels, said.
Licklider is the head judge and has been working with dogs for 26 years. He and Jay Turner of the Muncie Police Department chose the judges for this year's competition.
Two judges are from Hawaii, one is from Bermuda, and one is from Canada.
Dogs will be judged on detecting narcotics, obeying commands, detecting bombs, control, tracking, completing an obstacle course and searching a building.
Two judges are from the National Security Agency and will be judging the bomb detection competition.
The top three teams in each event will receive awards, as will the top three overall teams.
The awards banquet is scheduled for 8 p.m. on June 14. Last year's winner was Bob Hynek of Illinois.
There will also be a hard dog competition which will not be in conjunction with the other Olympic competitions. These dogs will be judged on who is the fastest and has the hardest hit.
"Judging relies a lot on audience reaction," Turner said.
Anyone is allowed to go and watch the competitions.
"Turnout has been pretty good in the past, and it gets bigger every year," Turner said.
K9 dogs can be of any breed, but most are German shepherds or Belgium Malinois. There is no age limit for dogs competing, but most are between 18 months to 10 years old, Turner said.
Although this is a competition, Licklider believes that it is more of a seminar and training event.
This year there will be close to 60 competitors, which makes this event the largest one of its kind in the United States.
Teams visiting will be staying in the Muncie Lee's Inn. Management has agreed to offer competitors a discounted price and allow dogs to live with their owners.
If the weather is bad Turner knows that it will only make the competition that much better.
"If it ain't raining, we ain't training," Turner said.
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