Certified Sage: K-9 officer inspires, earns new awards, certifications across Utah
Community engagement and crisis response K-9 Officer Sage has been hard at work getting her next two American Kennel Club certifications, as well as two new therapy certifications. She previously received her first AKC certification, the AKC Canine Good Citizen, in November 2024.
Sage’s handler Officer Shane Nebeker said the two traveled in May to get her AKC Community Canine and Advanced Canine Good Citizen certifications.
“We went to Columbus, Ohio to work with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office,” Nebeker said. “They have very robust therapy canine, law enforcement and police therapy canine programs out there.”
Nebeker said she got to do one of her final evaluations for her AKC certifications at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, one of the largest zoos in the country.
“She had to navigate not only people and food but other animals, and she had to behave appropriately,” Nebeker said.
Sage received her therapy certifications through First Response K9 and First Responder Therapy Dogs. Nebeker said to receive the certifications she had to do scenario training with different departments.
“We spent time working with the fire departments. They have a dive team, so we worked with search and rescue operations,” Nebeker said. “They also have a mounted unit, so we worked around horses, and we actually spent some time in the coroner’s office as well doing some de-escalation therapy work. They had gotten a rush of hard calls, so all the dogs got to go in and spend some time with the techs.”
Nebeker said he decided to get Sage certified to increase her credibility in Cache Valley.
“Sage’s position is new to the area, especially in Utah. It was important to me to getcertifications that were verifiable and that they were through organizations that arerecognized,” Nebeker said. “I can get online and get some of her basic certifications, but I wanted to have her evaluated and make sure she had the appropriate documentation
for her training.”
Alan Robertson, administrative sergeant for USU Police, said he thinks Sage getting these certifications will help set a standard.
“She’s kind of spearheading her position in this area,” Robertson said. “She helps bridge some gaps for us and does a lot, so it helps us legitimize her a bit more and validates her and her mission. It also sets a standard for other agencies who are maybe looking into doing the same thing with a similar dog or program.”
On top of receiving these certifications, Sage has also received the inaugural Sage Community Enhancement Award for all of the community service and engagement she has done. Nebeker said they will be giving out this award named after her to officers within the Police Department of Public Safety at USU.
“This is an award that will be given to officers who show the ability and initiative to go out and do community service and community engagement work,” Nebeker said. “It’s neat that she’ll have a legacy, and officers can strive to do some of the things she’s doing and that we’re doing as a partnership. It’s actually quite touching to me to see how she is being recognized for all the work she does up here.”
Sage has been on the Logan campus for about two years and celebrated her second birthday on Sept. 4. Nebeker said he has enjoyed watching her grow up and grow into her role.
“I’ve had a lot of comments from people who have watched her grow up about how
they’ve seen her improve and change how she does things,” Nebeker said. “She’s become very confident and very aware of emotion. It’s been really interesting to watch her, especially over the last couple weeks where we’ve had the incident with the Tremonton officers, kind of key into emotion and even dial down her normal self to really pay attention to the people she’s interacting with.”
Robertson said as time moves forward, they plan on having Sage engaging even more with the community on campus and in Cache Valley.
“We’re fortunate enough to have officers to dedicate to a community engagement unit here on campus, and Sage is a big part of that,” Robertson said. “We’re planning on expanding her involvement through campus outreach, mental health initiatives, campus events and other entities. We want to make her as accessible as possible for students and staff. She’s here for everyone, and she represents our department’s commitment to what we’re trying to do with care and establishing trust and a partnership with the university’s community.”