Canine crime fighter to return to dog’s life

Few will have the experience of leaving their careers on top.

Five-year-old Deacon, a German shepherd who has served the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office since December 2013, is among them.

Deacon nabbed what will likely be his last collar on Monday night, when he discovered 47-year-old Gary Olive Jr. hiding in an attic following a brief chase in Spokane Valley. Though his handler, Sheriff’s Deputy Tyler Kullman, said Deacon is “in his prime,” lingering knee and neck injuries sustained while in training or chasing suspects means the dog will take early retirement Friday.

“Our guys will turn around, jump a fence and tear an ACL,” said Deputy Mark Gregory, a Sheriff’s Office spokesman. “Our dogs are just like that. They have joints, just like humans do.”

Kullman and the Sheriff’s Office could have pursued costly surgery or continued a pain-killing drug regimen for Deacon, who in spite of injuries sprinted after an orange rubber ball his handler hurled into the tall grass at the sheriff’s training facility near Liberty Lake on Wednesday. But the high cost, and the possibility the medicine might cause organ failure led to the end of Deacon’s watch. Kullman said there were times when Deacon couldn’t lift his hind legs, or his head, which would cause the dog to stop eating and compound his ailments.

“We tried everything to fix it, including physical therapy and acupuncture,” Kullman said.

The Sheriff’s Office employs four dogs – Deacon, Enzo, Laslo and Gunnar – who perform routine patrols, with their handlers switching off on overnight shifts, Kullman said. They routinely work overnight and are called in when suspects flee a scene on foot. Laslo and Deacon joined the force in 2013, and Enzo and Gunnar followed in 2014.

Deacon, like most of the working dogs the sheriff uses, is an import from Europe. On Wednesday, he responded to Kullman’s command, given in German, of “Platz!” by lying on the ground. The word roughly translates to “down.”

Kullman said he joined the Sheriff’s Office with the hopes of an assignment to the K-9 division. Deacon was his first service dog, and while he wanted to care for Deacon in the dog’s retirement, his own living situation made that impossible. Kullman owns two other dogs who don’t get along with Deacon, and the deputy lives in a housing development that would give the 5-year-old little room to run.

“That’s the hardest part, knowing that I can’t keep him,” Kullman said.

County commissioners approved Deacon’s retirement and transfer to Kullman earlier this week. Kullman said Deacon will go to live with a friend and former K-9 unit handler.

In 2014, shortly after joining the sheriff’s office, Deacon located a 21-year-old drug crime suspect who’d left a trail of jelly beans to his location. Later that year, Deacon tracked a domestic violence suspect in Deer Park who was lying prone in a bush, in an attempt not to startle the dog.

Most police dogs are expected to serve for about six years, Gregory said, with any extra years being a bonus. Dogs are a key asset to patrol, he said.

“The deputies know what some dogs do better than others, like tracking,” Gregory said.

Kullman will soon meet with about 50 potential replacements for Deacon and spend a couple of days getting to know the dogs and establish a relationship. “He’s been my partner every day for the past three years,” Kullman said.

Despite his attachment to Deacon, Kullman said he knew he and the Sheriff’s Office were making the right choice.

“We’ll let him live his life out as a dog,” Kullman said, while Deacon lay next to him, panting and flopping his tail.