The Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office’s K9 unit has something new to bark about. Unveiled Aug. 16, the one-plus acre Joe Sells K9 Training Facility is a dedicated spot for handlers to train their working dogs in agility, searching, and technique. Although the sheriff’s office’s training grounds have been on Kansas Road for at least two decades, K9 handlers worked with their animals at either a rugged field there or the FOP Camp on Happe Road.
Now, VCSO’s six K9 teams can do agility training, runaway apprehension drills, and search techniques in a well-lit field next to the agency’s full training grounds. “These guys can do nighttime stuff where they couldn’t previously. It’s well maintained, the ground is flat, (and) the handlers don’t have to worry about turning an ankle or something when they’re working with the dogs,” VCSO Deputy Brad Fein says.
Fourteen months were spent filling holes, pouring concrete for hiding boxes, and installing donated light poles and wiring so the space is safe and secure. Construction collaborators included Capital Electric Inc., Bill Egli Concrete Construction, Irving Materials Inc., and Boy Scout Troop 350, while funding came from individual donors.
Deputies thank the team at Oliver’s Heroes — particularly late founder Joe Sells — for getting the ball rolling on their new K9 training space. Sells, who owned Rounders Too Pizza from 2015 until his death in 2024, was “a great guy who’d try to help anybody,” Fein says. After befriending the police officers and deputies who stopped in for a bite, Sells created Oliver’s Heroes, a nonprofit funding food, veterinary bills, and therapy for retired police K9s, who usually become their handler’s expense once they are off their agency’s payroll.
Sells and his board of directors noticed the lack of proper K9 training grounds for VCSO dep- uties and received a green light from the sheriff to coordinate plans for a dedicated space. Fein, who serves as board president of Oliver’s Heroes, says Sells was able to see the K9 training facility construction in progress before his death. With the completed project named for Sells and including a memorial plaque, “We want to remember how good it feels to honor Joe and what he would have wanted,” Vanderburgh County Sheriff Noah Robinson says.
