Back to school: Belmont K9 Marek heads to 3-month training with partner Ken Faath

BELMONT — Belmont’s police department officially has a staffed K9 unit again, and Officer Ken Faath, with partner K9 Marek, have gone back to school. Upon their return in three months after successful completion of the training course, the two will seamlessly integrate into the community, patrolling and protecting, hand-in-leash.

“We're going to have a good time with it, because it's going to serve the community well,” Faath said in an interview Sept. 7, at the police station. “Whether it's running sweeps through [BankNH Pavilion] or even our schools here or something like that for explosives, it's going to serve many communities. Same with the narcotics. We're going to try to find people for Belmont, and all the surrounding communities.”

Marek is an 85-pound shepherd — still growing at 14 months old — who hails from Slovakia. He was brought to the U.S. about a month ago by Anton Paluch, of Connecticut, who works with Zo Slovenskeho Dvora kennels overseas. Marek is now an actively employed member of the department. His pay? Dog toys.

“Pretty much all they work for is a toy. That's pretty much the name of the game,” Faath said. “It's not that they do it because they feel it. They do it for a toy. That's their pay.”

The Belmont team is training under the leadership of Lt. Nicholas Hodgen, known for his “regional K9 program that includes teams from Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. He has trained and certified over 25 teams,” reads a March 19 press release from the Hillsboro Police Department.

Faath was laid back with Marek before school started, keeping him fed and comfortable until the real training can begin.

“I just got him, and all I'm doing is feeding him, walking him ... before school right now, building a bond with him. That is it.”

At school, training takes time.

“Once we get to school, it is like the most infantile steps to teach him how to apprehend. We do bite work, which he already has some previous, which is nice. Then we're going to teach him how to track, which basically would be to find people, whether they're bad guys or or good guys. Either way, it's tracking people,” Faath said. “That kind of runs hand-in-hand with the bite work, too. Like, you find a bad guy, you have the capability to apprehend, if need be.”

The next part, Marek’s speciality training, remains up in the air as the course progresses.

“The third component of it, which would make him technically dual purpose, would be he's either going to do narcotics or EOD — explosive ordinance disposal — like bomb detection and firearms and explosives detection basically,” Faath said.

Faath landed in Belmont by way of Interstate 787, relocating from Upstate New York to the Lakes Region. In a serendipitous way, Faath knew he wanted to work in law enforcement since he was young.

“I was cookie-cutter since I was like, 3 or 4 years old. I'm like, ‘I want to be a cop,’” he said. “I just thought it was the coolest thing ever, to fight crime and catch bad guys. And you learn, now being in it, it's some of that, but it's a lot more paperwork than you realize when you're little.”

Faath earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, then began as a K9 handler for the University of Albany campus police in the early 2020s. He transitioned to the sheriff’s office before coming aboard the Belmont force, filling an ongoing need for the local department.

“I had a canine when I was at university police. When I started out, I was very fortunate. Within a few years, I made canine, which was a great experience, and then I got out of it, because I transferred and went to the sheriff's office,” Faath said. “I was no longer in K9, and then I saw it open up here. There's not many jobs across the country where you could just interview and walk in as a canine” officer.

He's grateful for his department's leadership, and the community.

“I'm from New York. They didn't know me from a hole in the wall. We both like separate sports teams. We both have different ways we talk and accents, and they took a shot on me to come out here,” Faath said. “Here it is, reality, you know, dreams becoming reality kind of thing.”

Taking top-notch care of Marek is Faath’s priority. After all, they spend so much time together, working four, 10-hour shifts a week. Marek is also boarded at Faath’s home.

“I'm probably going to spend, to be honest, more time with him then my future wife, possibly my kids. Forty hours a week with him, plus all the stuff we do at home,” he said. “I spend probably more time with him than my own family. So, he's going to be my family indirectly.”

He takes seriously the commitment Marek made to the community when he was imported and hired.

“They just come into this world and it's like, 'You're going to be a police K9 for eight or nine years,' and they just don't know,” Faath said. “They know, ‘I get a ball.’ They don't have a choice, so I want to give him the best life.”

His police cruiser was recently modified to accommodate Marek, now fully equipped thanks to a grant from the Stanton Foundation. Belmont was awarded $33,650, which was accepted by the selectboard on Aug. 19.

The grant helped cover the expenses of outfitting the vehicle, as well as the cost of veterinary care, housing, food, and training.

While on patrol, Faath makes a point to take breaks from the vehicle every three hours. When Marek is left unattended in the vehicle, he’s in good hands. There are sensors built in to alert Faath of temperature swings above and below certain degrees. A heavy-duty fan was installed, and runs consistently, to keep Marek comfortable.

On the outside, Marek’s name is proudly displayed. At home, Marek lives largely in an exterior 10x10 kennel, but comes inside during extreme temperatures.

This will be Belmont’s fourth police dog, reinvigorating the program now there’s an officer on the force with interest.

“We now have an officer who is really well qualified” to handle a K9 officer, selectboard Chair Ruth Mooney said Aug. 19.

For more information on K9 Marek, visit facebook.com/belmontnhpolice.

•••

Katlyn Proctor can be reached at katlyn@laconiadailysun.com or by calling 603-524-0150.