dangerous police dog Original Article Nipping K-9 out to Heber pasture By Paul Giblin, Tribune Columnist November 16, 2005 Rocky the Scottsdale police dog managed to survive long enough to retire. He moved to Heber, a lovely town along the Mogollon Rim, where all the residents now are prospective meat-flavored snacks. His supervisors, Lt. S cott Popp and Sgt. J.R. Parrow, forced Rocky to take retirement two weeks ago because of a series of performance issues. Specifically, he kept chomping his human co-workers. Popp and Parrow probably saved his life. Officer Patrick Regan shot Rocky on Sept. 12 and it was only a matter of time before another cop perforated him. That night, Regan and several other officers were searching for two men suspected in a shootout near North 64th Street and East Indian School Road. They traced one of the suspects to a house on East Calle Camelia. Officer David Alvarado, Rockys handler, released the dog into the backyard, while Regan and officer Damien Mendoza searched near a garage. Regan and Mendoza came across an unlocked door and decided to investigate, according to police reports. Regan opened the door and Rocky burst onto the scene. "Whoa! Here he comes. Dont move," Mendoza yelled. Rocky initially headed for Mendoza, but it was a feint. Rocky changed directions and pounced on Regan, pushing him backward. "As I was moving backwards, I was able to push the dog back with my right foot. I continued stepping backwards in order to increase the distance between the dog and myself," Regan wrote in his report. Rocky decreased the distance, lunged again and sunk his teeth into Regans left arm. Regan dragged Rocky a distance and kicked him away. Rocky circled around and again turned toward Regan. "I raised my service weapon from the low ready position and with one hand discharged one round at the dog," Regan wrote. Even after being shot in the butt, Rocky remained undeterred in his mission to gnaw on Regan and went after him again. By then, Alvarado arrived on the scene. "As Officer Regan ran away from Rocky yelling, Rocky immediately locked onto Officer Regan, who was giving Rocky a lot of stimulus," the dog handler wrote. Regan prepared to stimulate Rocky with a second bullet, but Alvarado grabbed the dog, sparing his life. Both Regan and Rocky were treated for their injuries. For the record, police dogs are supposed to take a bite out of crime, not cops. On Oct. 10, Alvarado provided the necessary stimulus for a second dog attack when he tried to subdue a suspect with a pipe. As Alvarado and the man fought, Rocky bit Alvarado. Then Rocky figured his services were needed elsewhere and bit the hand of another officer, who put the dog in a choke hold and threw him into a car. "At some point, we just had to make the decision that its better to have him retire than to keep him out on the streets," police spokesman Sgt. Mark Clark said. Rocky, a Belgian Malinois, had seven years of service on the force. His handler doesnt know why he became a rogue dog, Clark said. Rocky worked on the narcotics detail, so its possible that sniffing all that dope over the years may have affected his judgment or just given him the munchies. The dog was scheduled to retire in the summer anyway. Generally, police dogs have short retirements. Their postcareer routines usually feature a one-way trip to a veterinarians office to reminisce over a lethal cocktail. "When you have a police dog, you dont just give him to a family and say, Here you go! Enjoy your new pet! " Clark said. "You want to have someone who knows the dog and knows his quirks." In Rockys case, his former handler, who lives in Heber, agreed to take him, quirks and all. Rocky had another option. He had been invited to relocate to Cottonwood, a den for other disgraced Scottsdale cops. Scottsdale Chief Doug Bartosh, fired in January 2003, turned up as Cottonwood chief in February this year. Officer Gareth Braxton-Johnson, who resigned while under an Internal Affairs investigation in June, accepted a position with Cottonwood in August. The welcome mat was out for Rocky as well. "Our dogs remain with their handlers and enjoy their retirement and being part of a family," Cottonwood officer Denise Ross wrote in an e-mail in response to an Oct. 21 column. "Rocky would be welcomed up here as we value our police officers (which Rocky truly is). We have a ranch where . . . several retired police dogs live, instead of suffering imminent death," she wrote. Think of all the jolly times Bartosh, Braxton-Johnson and Rocky could have had together hanging out at morale-building barbecues, cowering from columnists phone calls. Maybe they can still get together. Meanwhile, the Scottsdale Police Department has moved on. Popp and Parrow last week brought in a recruit to serve along alongside Nitro, Spike and the rest of Scottsdales furriest. Alas, the recruit flunked his physical, so theyre looking for a replacement who knows the difference between cops and kibbles. Contact Paul Giblin by email, or phone (480) 970-2331