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Officers Rebekah Hatch and Nyx, a Belgian Malinois, pose for a photo in front of the Mapleton City Public Safety Building on Friday, April 7, 2023.

Sarah Hunt, Daily Herald

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Trainer Russ Bishop rewards Nyx with a toy once she catches the scent of a drug hidden inside a box at the Mapleton City Public Safety Building on Friday, April 7, 2023.

Sarah Hunt, Daily Herald

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A three-month-old Nyx is shown in this undated photo.

Courtesy photo

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As part of her training, Nyx sniffs different boxes to determine which one contains drugs at the Mapleton City Public Safety Building on Friday, April 7, 2023.

Sarah Hunt, Daily Herald

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Officer Hatch rewards Nyx with a toy once she catches the scent of a drug hidden in a tool chest inside the Mapleton City Public Safety Building on Friday, April 7, 2023.

Sarah Hunt, Daily Herald

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Last October, the 11-person Mapleton Police Department recruited a special officer: Nyx, a three-month-old Belgian Malinois. Now nine months old, she is almost finished training to be the team’s first K9 officer. Nyx will be certified in narcotic work by the end of the summer and tracking and criminal apprehension by the end of December.

“It’s actually not very ordinary for departments around here to start with a puppy,” said Rebekah Hatch, a Mapleton officer and Nyx’s handler. “A lot of times they’ll be over the age of one and another kennel has already started training them to have enough drive to do the job. It’s a little bit of a risk to bring in a puppy, but once you get past the six month mark and they still have the drive like Nyx, they’re good to go.”

When Nyx first came to the department as a puppy, Hatch, who joined the department in 2020, was assigned to be her handler. The two became fast friends and partners. 

Police dogs live with their handlers to strengthen their bond and allow them to be “just dogs” when their shift is over. Nyx says goodbye to her human siblings, Hatch’s children, each morning before she rides to work in the squad car.

Due to her high-energy and intelligent breed, Nyx has no trouble keeping up with a rigorous learning schedule. She trains daily with Hatch and has multiple sessions each week with her breeder and trainer, Russ Bishop of Rival K9.

Bishop started Rival K9 after leaving the American Fork Police Department, where he was a Police K-9 Handler and trained several of the city’s police dogs.

During a recent training exercise, Nyx was taught to identify different illicit drugs by their scent, then distinguish where the drugs were hidden out of several small boxes placed around the room. As Nyx began the drill, Bishop was confident in her abilities — she ran straight to the box containing the drugs.

“Oh yeah, she knows where it is already,” Bishop said. “There’s no doubt, a dog’s nose is unreal. There’s some great new studies coming out on just how powerful they are, and they’re more powerful than we ever thought.”

In another exercise, Nyx searched for a larger quantity of drugs in a garage with different obstacles and hiding places. Finding the exact location of a larger amount of drugs can be difficult to narrow down, as the smell appears to be everywhere to a dog’s sensitive nose. Hatch told Nyx to “find the gift”, and she quickly recovered two pounds of methamphetamine hidden in a metal tool chest.

Other parts of her training include working with a bite sleeve, visiting schools for demonstrations in assemblies, and attending Mapleton community events to socialize with humans and other dogs. Hatch brings Nyx to as many different events as possible to give her a well-rounded education — so she can become the best narcotics dog she can be.

“One of the reasons I was paired with Nyx is because I’m a proactive officer. I love to work hard, I’m super motivated, interested in getting drugs off the streets, and I’ve always wanted to do K9. So starting her as a puppy, we’ve been able to develop a strong bond and put in the hard work. Showing everyone that we can do it is one of the best and most rewarding parts of being her handler,” Hatch said.

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