The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh created a new canine program that aims to increase our preparedness while being host to thousands of events each year. We welcomed K9 Skylar to the UW Oshkosh Police team in 2018.
K9 Skylar, a detection dog, was sworn in as a member of the UW Oshkosh Police Department team Monday, Nov. 19.
Skylar, a 2-year-old lab, was trained to sniff out explosives, track individuals and find evidence at crime scenes. Skylar also serves to help provide a sense of calmness and deescalate stressful situations when people may be struggling.
The addition of K9 Skyler helps take our emergency management efforts on the UW Oshkosh campus to the next level. K9 Skylar canine is not trained or used for drug detection, suspect apprehension or crowd control.
K9 Skylar is paired with and lives alongside Police Officer, Adam Withbroe, who serves as her handler.
The steady growth of the number of campus events paired with limitations in availability with other comparable service dogs in the region from other agencies prompted the university’s acquisition of the police dog. Skylar will be an asset in sweeps of buildings prior to events and if there ever is a concern once an event is underway. While the public police department does have drug-finding dogs, Skylar is the first working dog of her kind in Oshkosh.
K9 Skylar trained in a couple intensive programs; one in New Mexico (Fall 2018) and one in Michigan (Fall 2021) and Ofc. Withbroe and K9 Skylar train monthly with other K9 handlers and weekly at UW Oshkosh.
Skylar is really a joy to be around and work with. She likes people, she knows when its time to work, and she provides warm hugs when she’s not working.
University funds were not and are not used to maintain or train K9 Skylar. While private donors have helped in the early stages of bringing Skylar to campus, more funds are needed to help sustain the K9 safety efforts at UW Oshkosh. If you’re interested in supporting our K9 program, please visit the link on our page and make a donation to keep this program in place for years to come.