Trust Your Dawg by Dirk Jameson
“Trust Your Dog”
DISCLAIMOR: Easily offended then please keep moving along. I write this from the world I’ve been apart of for over 30 years. Otherwise, buckle up, sit back as I smash the gas, and we run code to a valuable lesson I learned many years ago.
Anybody who has ever attended a comprehensive K9 school in Law Enforcement or the Military has been screamed at by the trainer with these famous four words…”trust your dog a**hole!”
I had very little sleep going into this particular nightshift because I had been up most of the day doing things when most normal people are awake. I was hoping for a relatively quiet night which it was until right before I was due to check off and crawl into bed. The God of Street Poh-lece, Murphy’s Law or just bad luck looked down on me and grinned as the radio began spitting out details of an evolving situation where my partner, K9 Keloh, and I would definitely be needed.
A car chase which resulted in a bail out (bad guy gets out and runs) took place where the bad guy ran into a heavily wooded area that was surrounded by a wet swampy area. Normally I would be grateful for the opportunity to use K9 Keloh for his sole reason to be on this earth, to use his god given innate “drives” that we’ve molded and shaped into a machine hell bent on tracking, finding, and taking into custody any person, of any sex, of any race, that was foolish enough to think they could out run or out maneuver him. However on this night, I seriously just wanted to go to bed.
Keloh and I arrived on scene and suited up. Keloh instantly began working fresh odor which led us to a wet marshy area where he was working the area hard obviously in heavy odor. I called in for air support and the use of FLIR (forward looking infrared radar) because I honestly didn’t want to wade through water with Keloh in total darkness except for my flashlight. So of course the helo didn’t pick anything up so I was so sure of Keloh being in odor that I made the decision to proceed in the murky swamp.
Keloh once again was showing signs of being in odor so much that I managed to pick him up and place him on top of a large patch of vegetation in the middle of the swamp. I managed to crawl on top of this also and began to scan the area with my flashlight as the helo was hovering just above me using the FLIR and then switching to the Nightsun and coming up with a goose egg. Frustrated is not a strong enough word as it had become personal at this point how the bad guy won this one.
Soaking wet, exhausted, awake for more than twenty-four hours, and a LOSER, I called it and eventually made it home…and into bed!
As often happens bad guy was picked up the next morning without incident walking along the road and given the bed and breakfast plan courtesy of the Sheriff’s Office. I came in that night and once I heard the news I went to the jail and interviewed the bad guy. I make it clear when I do these type of interviews that I’m not after a confession, I don’t read them there rights, I let them know they’ve won that round and I want to know how they got away and if I was even close. 99.9% love the opportunity to brag about how they got away and I let them because I’m taking notes so there is no next time.
So I asked and he jumped at the opportunity to tell me. “Remember when you were standing on top of the plant with your dog in the swamp”….”uhhhh, yeah”….”you were standing on top of me, I was underneath the plant in the water”
(face palm) “Trust your dog a**hole”. Noted.
Dirk Jameson