PUNTA GORDA — Officer Jonathan Mendel admits he’s a little nervous. After all, he’s heading into his first national K-9 trials having never competed at any other level.

There have been 400 hours of training with his partner, K-9 officer Jedi, the necessary certification, plus some time together on the road, but that’s all. It’s like being drafted by a baseball team and skipping all of the minor league development, just heading right to spring training and then to the big show.