Iowa State University Police Department (ISUPD) acquired its first official K9, Zak, a 2-year-old Belgian shepherd from Poland, in mid-February. Pacesetter K9 in Austin, Texas, trained Zak as a bomb detection and tracking dog to help keep the campus safe. 

“I put it out to the team that ‘hey, if anybody has an interest, write a proposal’, that was 2017,” ISUPD Chief Michael Newton said.

The ISUPD decided to get Zak to serve as a bomb- and tracker-dog of their own, rather than relying on other universities or the marshals.

“In 2025, Officer Solomon Farner came forward with a proposal, came with an entire plan, cost, what the dog would need,” Newton said. 

Farner drafted a proposal for the K9, including a budget of $16,000. Previously, ISUPD had to contract other agencies, including the University of Iowa and Johnston Police Department, for trained K9s for football games, concerts, and other high-attendance events.

Zak’s training included imprinting on specific odors for tracking purposes and building a relationship with his handler, Farner.

“The process for me has been learning how to present different objects to him, learning how to sweep a room in the correct way and learning things as simple as handling a leash. So the training process for me has just been learning his behavior,”  Farner said. “Learning how to detect specific odors, what his behavior change looks like when he’s on something that maybe anxieties him and then also learning how to keep it fun for the dog.” 

Pacesetter K9s tells new handlers that the dogs are already imprinted, so they are more training the handlers than the dogs. Officer Farner selected Pacesetter to train Zak because the company offered an extra two weeks of training. 

Zak lives with Farner at his house, and Farner pays for the care of Zak. ISUPD partnered with the College of Veterinary Medicine to manage Zak’s health.