The Oakley Police Department has said goodbye to its K9 Shadow, a Belgian Malinois, who worked 7 years within the City of Oakley with Officer R. Canady. During last Saturdays Heart of Oakley Festival, after 100’s of K9 demonstrations, Shadow gave Oakley its final sendoff with a demonstration that delighted the crowd.
Shadow came to Oakley from the Netherlands and was placed with Officer Canady when he was 4-years-old after being trained in Europe.
According to Canady, the primary focus on police dog is because they find people, drugs, evidence and other items—even up to 12-days later. He explained that these dogs are born in Europe and trained from 1-to-4 years and then if they meet the criteria to become police dogs they are placed with a handler.
“I wish I could tell you there was some magical process of how these dogs are selected for the handlers, like we go there and meet them, pet them, love them and squeeze them but what really happens if the dog is tested they walk up to you and go here is your dog,” said Canady. “It’s a dicey experience for most of us, the dog was in Europe two days ago and now we are doing bite work and driving them home to our families and hopefully they can learn to like us.”
Shadow was trained in finding people, finding dope, weapons left behind.
Canady explained that although the dogs are in cars all day, they are equipped with roll bars, but when its hot out that when the vehicle’s hit 85 degrees, there are censors that will alert us.
“On these patrol cars, they have these roll cages built inside. These cages are so strong that if we are involved in a traffic collision, a lot of times these dogs are better off than we are,” said Canady. “I remember a circumstances in the past where handlers were killed in car crashes but the dogs escaped with no injuries at all.
He explained how the safety of the dogs are a priority second to none because they are a part of their family.
“It’s irony this dogs name is Shadow because this dog has been my shadow for the last 7-years,” said Canady. “I often make jokes that I see him more than my wife and family. While it’s not really a joke it’s not really funny because it’s true. He is going to have a hard time retiring.”
Canady told the audience that these dogs are not mean dogs or aggressive, the reason is because they do not rely on aggressive behavior.
“When it comes time for this dog to work, we cannot rely on this dog to get pissed off at someone and be mean, it just won’t work and it’s not safe,” explained Canady. “These dogs do their job because they love to do their job. This dog has zero fear because it wants to go get its next toy.”
He said while the dog is working, his tail is wagging.
During the demonstrations Officer Canady also praised Oleg, Oakley’s other police dog saying that he is very animated, but very good at what he does.
“Officer Riddle knows he will do the task no matter what he is facing,” explained Canady. “He does not know it’s possible to lose a fight, all he knows is that when he goes and confronts a bad guy that he will win that fight regardless of what happens,”
When it comes to K9 officers releasing their dogs, he explained that once the dog is sent it will go for the first available point of contact and will hold on until it’s commanded to release. He also shared that a suspect will not scare the dog away.
Canady explained that a police K9 will slow down a person because if someone is high on drugs, a baton is not going to work but a dog will slow them down. It will keep people from running with a 60-70 lb dog attached to their arm and they will not be able to jump fences.
Oakley’s Police Chief Dan Gomez declined to comment and is reserving his final comments concerning the matter to an upcoming going-away gathering
