Sgt. Joe Nicholas, known best as Joe Nick, trained dogs to find missing persons and fugitives for the New Jersey Department of Corrections for over 25 years. Though he is now retired from the force, Joe Nick still works independently with departments across the country to reunite missing people with their loved ones.
His work as both a detective and dog-handler will be documented on the new Biography Channel television show entitled “Joe the Bloodhound,” premiering Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 10 p.m.
“I was producing a series about different forensic specialties, and we did an hour on canine detectives,” said show producer Nick Davis. “For that episode, we interviewed Joe Nick – he wasn’t even the main thing, but when I saw the footage I couldn’t believe it. He was – is – the most watchable TV character I had ever come across – smart, raw, likable, funny, and incredibly driven.”
So driven that he has closed 253 of the 254 cases he’s worked on in his lifetime. According to Joe Nick, that one unsolved case haunts him every day.
The pilot episode will introduce viewers to Belgian Malinois Mia, one of Joe Nick’s half dozen personal pooches. He will also be working with dogs from departments around the country. Throughout the series, viewers will see him working with Bloodhounds, German Shepherds, and Belgian Malinois’, to name a few. Tune in to see the heroic work these trained tracking dogs can do.
“The use of the dog in missing persons and search and rescue — if trained and utilized properly— is the greatest tool we have,” said Joe Nick. “The greatest tool is the tool that works for itself,” he added about dogs’ constant need to find what they’re looking for.
Image: Joe Nick / via Facebook