'He's my buddy': Emotional farewell for beloved K9 officer Louie

 

CALEDONIA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Nine year ago, Caledonia made a commitment allowing its police force backup that had never before been seen in the village. Now, they're saying goodbye to K9 Louie and marveling at the successful career he's had.

It's a final walk down the halls of the Caledonia police station. For eight years, these officers have known K9 Louie's had their back and seeing him retire is bittersweet.

"Those of us who were here in 2016 remember the excitement and anticipation of having a canine join our ranks," said Caledonia Police Chief Christopher Botsch.

The ten-and-a-half-year-old Dutch Shepherd's paw is wrapped today. He tore his Achilles tendon in training.

"We don't want to run him all the way until he really seriously injures himself. No, I'm not playing tug of war," said Caledonia Police Officer Cory Radke.

And although he's at the top of his game, Caledonia believes it's best he calls it quits.

"Every time we deploy on the streets could be life or death situation, so we want them to be at the highest level not just for his safety but the safety of everybody in the community," said Officer Radke.

Officer Cory Radke was selected as the department's first K9 handler.

"When I first got him, they like walked Louie out with a leash, gave it to me like this is your dog as he's jumping up on all four's hitting me in the face with his nose, like perfect. This is the perfect dog for me," said Officer Radke.

After 320 hours of canine handler training in Virginia, the two hit the streets of Caledonia, and assisted in calls in Racine County and Kenosha County. K9 Louie's sniffed 705 vehicles in the last eight years like this one on Highway 38. Officer Radke makes the traffic stop, and then Louie shows you just can't keep a good dog down. Once Louie's inside the car, he alerts on the center console. The driver admits he smoked marijuana in the car in the last few weeks. What he didn't openly admit was found anyway. A 9mm handgun with a bullet in the chamber, and a 30-round extended magazine, hidden under the driver's seat, and the driver's a convicted felon.

"We sniffed over 700 vehicles throughout the eight years, some of the most that I've heard of. I don't want him to retire. He's my buddy," said Officer Radke.

Other career highlights…K9 Louie's assisted in seizing 12-thousand grams of marijuana, 130 grams of cocaine, along with heroin, meth and fentanyl, and Lt. Rob Mueller says they've taken 87 guns off the streets.

"As good as they were at detecting and locating drugs, Officer Radke and Louie were just as good at finding people," said Lt. Mueller.

Officer Radke recalls one of those searches.

"There were a couple people burglarizing homes and then we tracked them down. I actually sent Louie for an apprehension in the wintertime, grabbed the jacket and threw him to the ground. Louie only bit his jacket and drug him to the ground and he released when I told him to right away. So, I mean it was picture perfect," said Officer Radke.

Louie is known for his energy and devotion to the cause.

"I was in a pursuit, and they crashed, and they took off running, then say the canine warnings, pop the door and then we're off to the races and then usually after I do the canine warnings, he gets all amped up and people hear that and they're like I'm done, I'm done," said Officer Radke.

Even in training, Louie works like a dog, more interested in getting the bad guys than in his own self-preservation.

"At the old Honda on Highway 20. Instead of taking the stairs down, he went up over the guard rail and fell eight feet on the concrete steps, busted both of his knees open. So, I was like all right, scenario's over. I threw him up on my shoulder and then the decoy that was in the cage comes out and opens the door to let us go through, so he's trying to jump off my shoulder to bite her because she was the bad guy as I'm trying to get him to the vet," said Officer Radke.

"Louie has been a loyal partner to Officer Radke and they share a bond that those of us who haven't served as a canine officer will never fully comprehend," said Chief Botsch.

Officer Radke allowed us to see how their partnership works.

"Ready?" Radke calls out to K9 Louie.

In the Caledonia police garage, Radke's got K9 Louie on the search for illegal narcotics.

"Ready? Find em!" says Officer Radke to K9 Louie.

It's a quick find for Louie, this time, alerting on the gas tank.

"So that's him telling me it's right here dummy, give me the ball," said Officer Radke.

While some police dogs are food motivated, Officer Radke says Louie just wants his toy.

"He's done the task that I wanted him to do. He found the narcotics. He got his reward. So that's like a good day. He got a paycheck. He went to work, and that ball is his paycheck," said Officer Radke.

Caledonia Police Chief Christopher Botsch says Louie's earned quite a fan club; his paw prints forever on their hearts. A Facebook page devoted to him has 25-hundred followers.

"Louie was always present at community functions like Community Care Days, demonstrations at local schools, and our Citizens Academy," said Chief Botsch.

Pictures through the years show him on the job and off, with his police family and the community. A good number showed up at Louie's retirement party in January.

"I want to thank everybody especially in uniform who helped me out throughout the years," said Officer Radke.

"He was a very, very hyper, very ready to go dog. Dogs match their handlers' personalities. It's just a weird phenomenon and Cory is a very loud boisterous, happy person. He's ready to work," said Racine County Deputy Nathan Poelmann, also a K9 handler.

Officer Radke says as vicious as he can be on the job, off the clock, they let sleeping dogs lie.

At home he is the laziest dog there is. My other dogs like high alert, someone's here and he's like meh, off duty. Anytime we, the fridge opens, like a typical lab dog just comes running up for the cheese snacks every time," said Officer Radke.

And what does Officer Radke think his four-legged friend looks forward to most in retirement?

"See how slender he is right now, times him by two, so he's gonna get fat and we're gonna eat ice cream together on the couch. That's about it," said Officer Radke.

The Caledonia canine program is run 100 percent on donations. They're hoping to raise enough money for a new canine by summer.