Deputy Curtis Rouse and K-9 Vito

Deputy Curtis Rouse has been with the Merced County Sheriff’s Office for seven years and is assigned to patrol as a K-9 handler. Before being a K-9 handler, Deputy Rouse worked alongside the Merced County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Team as an Agitator and trail layer for the other dogs in the K-9 Unit. In February 2018, Deputy Rouse graduated from a K-9 tracking school in South Carolina, where he first met his partner, K-9 Vito.

K-9 Vito is a black and tan-colored Gonczy Polski (polish hound) specializing in Human Tracking. K-9 Vito is six years old and has been a deputy with the Merced County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit since February 2018. He and Deputy Rouse are trained to find missing, wanted, or lost people.

K-9 Vito’s favorite thing to do on his time off is play fetch. At just 50 pounds, K-9 Vito is the smallest K-9 on the team. Don’t let his happy demeanor or small size fool you, he is a tracking machine.