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January 27, 2006

Dog Won't Hunt

My little hometown newspaper has been running a series of articles about how the sheriff is raising funds to get a drug dog. In this week's article about a large donation received, it mentions that the average working life of a K-9 is 7-9 years. And that it had been 10 yrs. since the sheriff's department had had a drug dog.

I got a pretty good chuckle out of that because it would lead one to believe that the last drug dog had outlived its usefulness and it's time to get a new one. A reasonable assumption, but not exactly accurate.

I remember the last one they had, a nice little dog named Dixie. Dixie was an Alsatian or maybe a Belgian Shepherd, if memory serves. Someone had gotten some kind of anti-drug grant money to purchase Dixie, and a deputy was selected and trained to be her partner.

All went well for quite a while, Dixie worked hard & was generally regarded as a welcome addition to the sheriff's department. Until the day came when her human partner left the sheriff's department for a job elsewhere.

Dixie refused to do anything except lie on the floor at the jail/sheriff's department and stare mournfully at the wall. Permanently. They tried everything, including if I remember correctly, bringing in another dog trainer to work with her. No dice. She became a more or less permanent fixture at the jail, lying in the floor staring at the wall, and never worked another day in her life as far as I know.

I hope they have a little better luck with the next one.

Posted by Rita at January 27, 2006 05:08 AM

Comments

**She became a more or less permanent fixture at the jail, lying in the floor staring at the wall, and never worked another day in her life as far as I know.**

They should have put her to work at the DMV.

Posted by: Craig at January 27, 2006 06:50 AM

Lord, Margie'd never tolerate anything that wouldn't work. She runs the local DMV with a firm hand.

Posted by: Rita [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 27, 2006 07:01 AM