Poachers beware; the newest member of our K-9 anti-poaching unit will start with her training this week.
Ella, now eight weeks old, is a Dutch Shepherd dog that was donated to us by prominent Pretoria breeder Dr. Johan Klopper. Although still an adorable puppy, she is being trained to join Nicor in patrolling and protecting our borders, together with our K-9 handlers and the Black Mamba guards.
Ella has an impressive bloodline: her mother Khalik is from Romanian descent while her father Dario hails from France.

As Dutch Shepherds in South Africa are trained for explosive detection, narcotics detection, tracking, copper detection, and home executive protection, we have no doubt that Ella is going to become a valuable member of our K-9 team.
HESC’s K-9 officer and trainer Corlet Grobler says although Ella is still so young, she already displays typical Dutch Shepherd traits. Tenacity, alertness, and affection are particularly apparent. Shepherds are also known to be loyal, reliable, watchful, active, independent, intelligent and intuitive.

“Ella is already super focused, which is exactly what we want in an anti-poaching K9. She is very inquisitive and always ready to play and run around exploring her surroundings. Socialisation is very important at this age and Ella’s basic obedience training has already started.
“Our aim is to train Ella in detection and then later in bite-work and tracking. We are very satisfied with her progress so far and believe she will become a confident and valued anti-poaching K-9 that will contribute to the conservation and protection of the endangered species in our custody.”
We’ll keep you updated on Ella’s progress.