TRACKER 2004 INDEX 3

TRACKER'S CANINE CONDO

Hi! My name's "TRACKER" and I'm always happy to have visitors at my "CANINE CONDO". If you haven't figured it out, what I do is a little off the "beaten path", so to speak. Hopefully though, you'll enjoy your visit and tolerate my humor. I am a trainer and dog handler and have worked with Police Patrol and Scent Dogs for about 22 years now and am a recently retired Police Officer myself. It has been the single most pleasure of my life, not counting of course, my children. I have been fortunate in my life that I have been blessed with a loving family and a career in which they actually payed me to work with dogs and run in the woods, like I did for most of my adolescent life in the woods of Pennsylvania and pine barrens of southern New Jersey, where I spent countless hours learning the skills and experiences that would later in life, mold my future and my career. My particular expertise is a combination of scent work, tracking with a Police Patrol Dog, and TRACKING, the art of visually following the trail of an animal by the disturbance he creates as he passes through. As a result of my career and expertise, I have been involved in many searches, from lost children and senior citizens, to bank robbers, burglars, rapists and emotionally disturbed people and evan a few searches for victims of a violent crimes, who we believed to be already dead, but we did not know their location.

I have had three K9 partners in my career. The first was "ZEKE", a 110 lb. German Shepherd who, because he was my first partner, was so special to me. Neither one of us knew a whole lot about police work when we started together, but we learned allot and experienced allot together. Besides that, we were tight. He knew what I was thinking and would do it before I could tell him.

He was a big old boy with a heart of gold. Every kid in the neighborhood knew Zeke and they would come to my door and ask me or my wife if Zeke could come out and play. Old Zeke died in late September of 1992, at the age of 13 years. And as I write about him, I know I miss that old boy.

My second partner was BULLET. BULLET is an 85 lb. German Shepherd who is as smart as they come. I got him from a city junk yard as a an 8 month old puppy. He was living in the trunk of an old fire bombed car. At first I thought he had a jet black coat until he got his first bath. But as you can see, he has the classic markings of a shepherd. He didn't have a serious bone in his body and wouldn't listen for squat. I thought I'd never get him squared away, but we finished school and hit the road.

With in 1 month, just after BULLET turned 11 months, we did a track of a burglary suspect. BULLET tracked the bad guy and found him hiding under a tool shed. The suspect didn't want to be arrested, but BULLET changed his mind, after some "porcelain persuasion". That's when I knew I had something special. We did track after track and pretty soon, BULLET got a reputation for having an excellent nose.

A few years later, we went back to school to learn how to find narcotics. He became real good at that too. Because of his exposure to the public, the next step was public relations. Demo after demo. BULLET was known by thousands of adults and kids. When they saw us working, they would say, "hay BULLET" and "who's that guy that works for him? We also competed in the United States Police Canine Association Regional Competition. BULLET had taken several trophies to include 1st place in obedience and 2nd place in obstacle course. He was one of the first dogs in this area to receive National certification in Patrol, Tracking and Narcotics search.
Bullet was 12 years old when he passed away on Dec. 10th, 1999. It took me a long time before I could evan wright about it. He was creamated and now resides inside of a rock that I keep in my den. We still talk from time to time when I need my friend!

And then there's SNAP! SNAP was my partner for 13 years. He is a 14 year old Belgian Malinois. This guy is a one of a kind! He only weighs about 57 pounds., soaking wet, with rocks in his pockets. But, 40 pounds. of it is brass, and the rest is love for me.

Like most K9 handlers, just when you think you'll never be able to work with another partner, you find one who won't take that for an answer. Don't get me wrong, I loved all my dogs. But it's like having 3 kids and someone asks you which one you love the best. You can't answer them, because you love them all and for different reasons, and as individuals.

SNAP doesn't have an ounce of fat on his body and he eats twice as much as BULLET did. He's a "high energy dog" who can't sit still. Even now, he always has to be doing something. In some ways, he drives me crazy because he can't sit still. But the trade off is well worth it! This little guy never gives up! He won't quit on a track, no matter how tough, how long or how bad the weather. He runs like a jaguar and jumps like a kangaroo!

Exactly one day after we hit the street as new partners, we got a call for an armed robbery at one of our local food marts. We went to the scene and started the track. We wound up several blocks away in a parking lot where SNAP decided he wasn't going to leave. So, I asked several people in the area if they had seen anyone running through. One man said no, but he did see a car parked right where we were standing! It left just before we got there. We gave out a description of the car and it was spotted 2 towns down the road. When police tried to stop it, the driver jumped out and ran into the back yards of this residential suburb. So, we hit the road and went to the suspects car. I could hardly get out of the car when SNAP started tracking on his own. About a half of a mile of back yards and several streets later, SNAP had cornered the bad guy under a mini van. First he threw the knife out and then the money. Then of course, he surrendered. And it's been that way ever since! On November 15th 2004, my beloved partner Snap, passed away after suffering a severe stroke. He was 14 years old. He was creamated and now resides with me.

Member of UNITED STATES POLICE CANINE ASSOCIATION (SINCE 1982)

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