K9 Handlers are at the heart of MARK9's SAR operations.  Each K9 team undergoes over a year of weekly training prior to becoming mission ready.  In addition to weekly team training, K9 handlers are expected to train their partners multiple times throughout the week to ensure proficiency of the K9 team.

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Each K9 team is required to pass a team certification in order to be deemed mission-ready.  Once the K9 team is deemed mission-ready, they are then deployable for all searches for which they are certified.