Active-Duty California K9 Police Officer Zach Pfannenstiel Talks About Being a K9 Officer (Video)

The Mike Drop Podcast supports active-duty police officers in all capacities.

In this 19 August 2024 video, host Mike Ritland talks with Zach Pfannenstiel.  The views and opinions expressed by Zach Pfannenstiel on this podcast are reflective of Echelon K9 and not of the San Diego Police Department. His job title history includes Patrol Officer. Gang Suppression Team Officer and Canine Handler Training Sergeant.

Zach has served as a faithful executor of the San Diego Police Department – a department he still serves under today. He’s also dedicated a notable amount of time in his career to the canine unit; over a decade in fact, where he continues to serve as the Training Sergeant responsible for overseeing a team of over 40 working dogs.

But law enforcement is about more than simply catching criminals, – just last April, Zach testified in Sacramento to combat the elimination of Police Canines with Assembly Bill 3241, representing all Canine Handlers in the State of California. It’s a thankless job, but somebody’s got to do it – fortunately for us, Officer Pfannenstiel is still on duty.

https://youtu.be/cgb8zN3W3E8

Chapters:

00:00 – Intro
07:43 – Breakfast, Bible, and Workout
10:18 – California, Colorado, Tennessee
14:58 – A Schoolhouse Canine Demonstration
21:18 – Six Months at Academy
30:33 – A Patrol Officer in Western Division
36:09 – Welcome to Gang Unit
41:25 – Officer-Involved Shooting – The Sovereign Citizen Story
49:13 – The Pursuit of a Lifetime
53:30 – Homeless and Undocumented
01:01:07 – Keeping K9′s In-House with Assembly Bill 3241
01:05:50 – Getting Bites with My First Dog Nero
01:13:45 – Police Canine Selection & Training Processes
01:30:33 – Outside Advice from Private Canine Experts
01:36:30 – The Hierarchy of Our K9 Unit
01:43:10 – Frustrations from California Law Enforcement
01:52:29 – Questions from Handler Dispatch
02:06:29 – Should We Be Cloning Dogs for Service?
02:14:08 – Personal Protection Dogs
02:16:10 – Training with Echelon K9
02:23:59 – Playing Politics