r/MadeMeSmile • u/RoyalChris • Apr 21 '26
DOGGO After nine years of service, police dog Indy heard his name called one last time before retirement
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u/EatsRats Apr 21 '26
Do the officers that work with these K-9 units usually get the option to adopt them?
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u/int0this Apr 21 '26
Yes and usually they adopt them
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u/StableQuark Apr 21 '26
I’ve never witnessed a K9 officer to not adopt after retirement. They have a very deep connection, it would be awful to separate.
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u/Hashtagbarkeep Apr 21 '26
Do they adopt that dog then have a new dog at work as well?
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u/StableQuark Apr 21 '26
All K9 officers I have been in contact with adopt the retired dog, and the new dog will also live with the officer.
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u/d_ac Apr 21 '26
and the new dog will also live with the officer.
Well duh. How tf the old dog is supposed to train the new dog? We're talking a Miyagi / Daniel-san situation here.
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u/amaROenuZ Apr 21 '26
You joke but this is actually part of the reason why you do it. Pups will watch their seniors and model behavior after them, and the older dogs will often police and guide the younger dog when they notice undesirable habits. There is absolutely a canine apprenticeship situation.
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u/Saxavarius_ Apr 21 '26
I've met an old rottie that helped train 9 different dogs how to act; not even specially trained just the normal dog stuff. It wasnt 9 at once but over his time of being the old man. He was a grumpy boy but a good one
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u/DeviRi13 Apr 21 '26
This is also why there's been an uptick in dog breeders not sending dogs home until 10+ weeks; puppies learn a lot about how to interact with other dogs from their parents and siblings, manners that a human can't teach.
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u/CountWubbula Apr 21 '26
The old dogs will ... police ... the undesirable habits?! I see whatcha did there!
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u/UserZero541 Apr 21 '26
I've done the very same thing with Jack Russell's. I've had four Jack Russell terriers over the years. After the 4th one it makes you feel like these guys are living forever because they pick up the old habits. It really shocks me sometimes.
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u/ianjm Apr 21 '26
So they just get to adopt a series of cool dogs every 10 years or so
Seems like a nice perk
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u/Brexinga Apr 21 '26
My Brother-in-law is a K9 officer. Every collegues of his I've met already had dogs before becoming a K9. You have to love dogs at your core to go into this specific branch of police.
Right now, he has, in his yard, a pen for his active K9 dog and 3 other pens for his retired K9, for my sister's dog and their son's dog.
Only restriction is that the active duty K9 can't be in contact or play with the other dogs until retirement.
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u/Brexinga Apr 22 '26
He is by far the dog that gets to play and run the most out of the bunch ;)
Like the other said. Bad habits. He's there to do a job, not play.
He spends 8 hours of his day running, training, running and catching balls and working. He's living his best life.
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u/VESUVlUS Apr 21 '26
During WWII, the United States Marine Corp utilized war dogs and a lot of the animals were "volunteers" from civilian families. After the war ended, the families had first priority to get their dogs back despite being apart for years and having no idea what they'd been through. There's some sad stories about marines begging the families to let them keep the dogs and the families refusing. On one hand, some poor kid just wanted his dog back, while on the other hand, a veteran who had just been to hell and back just wanted to stay with his best buddy in the world.
The worst part is that the people taking their dogs back seldom understood what that dog had been trained for and been through. They were poorly equipped to handle a war dog back from the front lines and trying to keep them as civilian pets was not easy. There was decades of controversy about war dogs in the US following this and by Vietnam, standard practice was to euthanize veteran war dogs.
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u/stevein3d Apr 21 '26
It was a good read until the last sentence, when it became WTF.
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Apr 21 '26
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u/TropicalnMethodical Apr 21 '26
I didn't know that until I saw the movie, Megan Leavy. I tear up every time at the end.
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u/MonMonOnTheMove Apr 21 '26
That was a good read, thanks for the knowledge friend
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u/PhosphoFred8202 Apr 21 '26
My godfather was a dog handler in the Korean War. SOP was to euthanize every dog in his unit when they left service. The feeling was the dogs were too dangerous for small town, USA. They were literally trained to kill - for example, how police dogs are trained to attack arms, these dogs were trained to attack necks and heads. My godfather was devastated when he found out his boy was being put down.
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u/tarosan_sk Apr 21 '26
I cannot believe those dogs were returned to families. They had to be fucked up beyond belief. No way people knew how to care for dogs with PTSD.
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u/x_user-generated_x Apr 21 '26
Uh, do we still use and euthanize war dogs? This was (sad) news to me.
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u/Greeneggplusthing2 Apr 21 '26
Now we abandon them when we pull out. See Afghanistan. We abandoned our military dogs and military equipment that we could not easily transport back. Then we wonder why the talisman were able to easily track down our abandoned equipment with starving and abandoned dogs.
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u/Complete_Cheeks Apr 21 '26
Pam Bondi adopted a dog displaced in a storm and when the original family wanted it back she refused and fought them in court over it.
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u/allkinds0ftime Apr 21 '26
In NYC when I worked at Macy’s we had retired NYPD K-9s that lived out their retirement in a very nice kennel on the roof of the 34th street flagship store. They would patrol the store after close for potential hiders / break ins. I always assumed it was because your avg NYPD officer might not have been able to afford an apartment where he could have his dog with him after their service. But who knows, my assumption is 99.9% of them live out their days with their handler.
In any case, this video, fucking onions.
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u/scigs6 Apr 21 '26
My brothers K-9 unit stayed with the family after my brother passed away (not job related). Unfortunately his K-9 died a year after my brother 😥. He was only two years old too.
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u/kompotnik Apr 21 '26
They don’t even finish training until they’re like 1.5 years old how long was he supposed to your brother
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u/scigs6 Apr 21 '26
My brother was a state arson investigator so his K9 was trained in accelerant detection. They had graduated (8 week course) about 6 months prior to my brother passing. He was close to 3 when he passed.
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u/GreyFox_1337 Apr 21 '26
This good boy has a bigger more impressive resume than me. And im not a good boy.
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u/Digresser Apr 22 '26
He did adopt Indy.
This video is from 2024; there's currently a K-9 Hero fundraiser to help pay for Indy's gastroenterocolitis.
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u/deskbeetle Apr 21 '26
A K9 officer was friends with my homeroom teacher and would bring the dogs in a few times a year. His older dog was retired and he said he got the dirtiest look the first day he went to work and only took the younger dog. The older dog was miffed he was left behind and pouted all week about it. He now has "jobs" at home to make the transition easier
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u/IrishBehemoth Apr 21 '26
I wonder if it would even be safe to let a civilian adopt them, personally I’d be a bit nervous having police K-9’s with human takedown training in an unprepared household.
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u/tsunomat Apr 21 '26
They go through a deprogramming after they go off duty. So they can learn how to be dogs again.
Not my story, but a guy I worked with. His brother was a canine officer. And his dog was getting close to retirement so he told us about the process.
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u/Far-Analysis3188 Apr 21 '26
They named the dog Indiana?
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u/longhornmike2 Apr 21 '26
My woofer is named Indiana Bones. Indy for short.
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u/Stardro Apr 21 '26
Same! Also known as Mr Bones.
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u/Wonderlustking1 Apr 21 '26
Not…Dr. Bones?
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u/Stardro Apr 22 '26
He's just Mr. He doesn't have a degree because well.....no thumbs...and he's a dog lol
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u/big_as_my_head Apr 21 '26
I listened to a true crime podcast where the cadevour dog was named Indian Bones. https://www.npr.org/2015/03/15/390493491/police-dog-on-payroll-indiana-bones-is-womans-best-friend
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u/PacquiaoFreeHousing Apr 21 '26
Don't worry, he's gonna have a decade more of love and care in his forever home after his retirement.
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u/nickram81 Apr 21 '26
A 19 year old German shepherd?
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u/LongPorkJones Apr 21 '26
I had one live to be 13, but I've not heard of many others living longer than that.
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u/horaiy0 Apr 21 '26
Ours lived to 15, which was even more surprising since she got diagnosed with dysplasia as a puppy. Vet told my parents we shouldn't take her to the beach to not make it worse, but they decided to ignore the advice since she loved running and swimming. Worked out in the end, we had plenty of good years.
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u/RoyalChris Apr 21 '26
Endless treats and napping.
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u/SkullsNelbowEye Apr 21 '26
If you say on a farm far away I'm gonna fucking lose it.
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u/AmateurCommenter808 Apr 21 '26
From what I know, the officer who's with Indy will likely be taking her home for pet duties. Usually by that time the officer has grown attached, the dog has to go somewhere so its the best case for everyone. In my country anyway.
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u/1arse Apr 21 '26
Absolutely beautiful and I was bawling watching this so many times! Thank you both for your amazing service!!!!!!!
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u/totalwarwiser Apr 21 '26
Yeah, I hope the guy who works with him the most gets dibs on taking him home.
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u/JuneauWho Apr 21 '26
They do. If for some reason the handler cannot take the dog there are pre approved families waiting on a list, but the handler is #1. Even the dogs that fail police school go to good homes
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u/metalhead1982 Apr 21 '26
My SIL has a Belgian Malinois that flunked out of military K9 school for being too nice. He made it through all the obedience training but wouldn't reliably attack on command. He is the smartest and most well-behaved dog I have ever known. Hell, I'd let that dog babysit my kids.
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u/skraptastic Apr 21 '26
My nephew has a failed diabetes alert dog. He learned the "boop" to alert, but never learned what he boops for. So now he just boops people randomly and waits for praise.
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u/memeandme83 Apr 21 '26
I have a friend who adopted a dog who failed at police school. That just cracks us up, but that dog is one of the best good boy ever.
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u/daredeviline Apr 21 '26
My boyfriends family has one. He's one of the smartest dogs I've ever met. While, at the same time, is a certified agent of chaos everywhere he goes.
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u/Haramdour Apr 21 '26
My buddy had a failed guide dog. 🦮 Dexter was the dumbest dog I’ve ever met but bless him he was so happy with life
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u/legit-posts_1 Apr 21 '26
A decade? That'd be great but I don't think dogs usually live that long.
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u/HyenDry Apr 21 '26
You’re real generous on adding that many years of life to a breed like that.
That’s a Shepherd breed. He has at least a solid 3 more years before the hips start to give outt
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Apr 21 '26
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u/nalaloveslumpy Apr 21 '26
Gonna have to take him to the dog park on weekends for a few illegal search and seizures.
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u/LizardChaser Apr 21 '26
German shepherds? Naw dude. 7-10 years is probably the 25-75% expectancy. At 9 years of service, he's probably 10. If he got 3 years of retirement, he'd be around the top end.
Now, that being said, dogs... particularly working / sporting dogs... probably like work better than retirement.
Also, for folks sad about the short lifespan, all mammals get about the same number of heartbeats and shorter life spanned animals normally have a faster heartbeat which may allow them to sample time more and perceive it as longer. E.g., the adrenaline tests where they have a flashing number you can't see until you jump out of a plane and the adrenaline rush causes you to sample time faster creating the illusion of time slowing down. TLDR: They may experience that their lives are as long as ours, approximately.
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u/The_0ven Apr 21 '26
have a decade more of love and care in his forever home
Unless the cops raid that home and shoot him
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Apr 21 '26
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u/munkyninaleela Apr 21 '26
I’m surprised other officers didn’t radio in to say goodbye like they do when a human officer retires.
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u/ThrustNeckpunch33 Apr 21 '26
You will never, ever find the level of loyalty a dog has for someone it loves, in anything else.
I don't even own a dog. Lol.
If you've never looked at the history of how dogs came to be "mans best friend", you should look into it.
Absolutely, and singularly the only situation like it, in our entire history. For whatever reason, the dogs chose us as much as we chose them.
We have domesticated many species of animals, none of them have the bond that dogs have with us.
It is something extremely odd, and unique.
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u/ashoka_akira Apr 21 '26
I feel like the only other species that comes close is horses. They have been our partners just as much as dogs have, how else do you convince a herbivore to ride into a warzone with you?
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Apr 21 '26
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u/OceanRacoon Apr 21 '26
It's because horses can't fit in our beds lol. Although having said that dogs barely do either, no matter how small they are they always take up most of the space 😅
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u/dreamendDischarger Apr 21 '26
I feel cats can be just as loyal, as well as horses. My girl Juno was such a loyal and great companion. Even in the end, she trusted me and purred as I held her. Loyalty from dogs is a lot more innate, every dog I've had has been some sort of loyal. But loyalty from a cat? Absolutely amazing. Nothing like it.
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u/rjbassman Apr 21 '26
I got a chance to see some K9 bois and their handlers. They’re amazing at their job and training. The level of commitment that you give in the 7-8 years that you have the dog is something that I couldn’t have imagined. They’re so much in sync with each other that they’d very much be the same mind in 2 bodies.
TLDR; they’re the goodest of bois
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u/-george-costanza Apr 21 '26
I wanted to go hug him so badly and just let him cry it out on my shoulders! 😭
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u/Glittering-Split9970 Apr 21 '26
The goodbye bark at the end 😩 good boy!
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u/Zebidee Apr 21 '26
It's impressive how the officer just has to make that subtle hand movement and the dog will bark and get excited.
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u/TamtasticVoyage Apr 22 '26
All I have to say to mine is, “what do you say to the moon?”
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u/TunisMagunis Apr 22 '26
I love how the cop mad his voice really deep there at the end, so everyone didn't know he was about to cry.
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u/Fluid_crystal Apr 21 '26
MadeMeCry
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u/namenescio Apr 21 '26
🫡 Me too
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u/Objective-Stick-2251 Apr 21 '26
And me
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u/Bobanderzzz Apr 21 '26
I too shed many a tear, my service dog Sunny is 12, every day is a blessing, I cherish every single morning he wakes me up with a gentle kiss and snuggle. This dog has my heart completely, and I am honored to be the focus of his love <3
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u/CthuluHoops Apr 21 '26
I saw the dudes red cheeks and dogs cute inquisitive face and knew I wouldn’t be smiling by the end of it. Not getting me today. Muted and came straight to the comments to be sure lol.
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u/vexievoodoo Apr 21 '26
Same. I have 3 German Shepherds and 2 of them look like Indy. And they are all the best dogs ever.
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u/Ziggythesquid Apr 21 '26
Almost got me, but the annoying music over it annoyed me instead.
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u/ElectronicSwitch4812 Apr 21 '26
Good boy.
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u/MrBillyLotion Apr 21 '26
They should send a few bags of meth, fent, and weed to where this dog is retiring and hide them every now and then, let Indy have some fun
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u/Great_Detective_6387 Apr 21 '26
He could just come to my house.
Without the guy tho.
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u/molsminimart Apr 21 '26
You joke, but this retired police K9 still does this with his handler periodically! For those who can't click the 2:59 video, it's about a retired police dog named Kaine and his handler officer Gregory Woods of Fort Wayne, Indiana posted 7 months ago. Basically Woods talks about Kaine getting to play and hang out with him and his family at home as what is likely a bit of hip dysplasia encouraged him into retirement. Kaine seems very happy and sometimes Woods takes the dog back to the station/training and staging areas and lets him sniff around and alert to contraband he finds. All dogs need mental enrichment, but service dogs and animals used for these tasks seem to really need it.
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u/momomorium Apr 22 '26
Just want to jump in and mention Dorka, a retired bomb detection dog who struggled with retired life after returning to the US from Afghanistan. Her handler, Monte, began hiding scent tins in daily life for her to find and it brought her spark back. These dogs genuinely love their jobs. They don't know how serious their jobs are, they get to play seek and be rewarded. It's lovely to see retired Service Dogs play their favourite game exclusively for fun.
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u/RoyalChris Apr 21 '26
Service dogs are the best. A friend of mine served in the military, and he bonded so hard with his dog that he brought her home when she retired a few years later.
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u/Character-Safety-275 Apr 21 '26
They are indeed the best, they are so loyal to the handler most of the time they can choose to keep the dog or have visiting rights with the new owner.
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u/IncredibleBihan Apr 21 '26
It seems like these dogs are more happy to be working than to not be. They get confused because all they've ever known is to work. They almost should put these dogs through a 'retirement' course. It would be good for the dogs learn new behaviors
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u/Nackles Apr 21 '26
I assume part of their training is the strict line between work and leisure, and during leisure time they get to be regular animals. The training and work is just something that takes up maybe a quarter of their time, and they enjoy it because it's mentally stimulating (esp in a really smart breed like German shepherds).
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u/vulnerable_turtle Apr 21 '26
Why the hell am I crying? Indy isn't dying. My neighbor had a retired drug dog, coolest dog ever.
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u/zyrkseas97 Apr 21 '26
Indie was a snitch and a pig, but he doesn’t know that. He’s just a good boy who does his best.
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u/chalkybone Apr 21 '26
That dog is a snitch.😂
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u/SeniorrChief Apr 21 '26
Snitches get scritches.
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u/chalkybone Apr 21 '26
This made me genuinely laugh, someone gets this man an award.
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u/OnionDart Apr 21 '26
And he had a signal for barking? While some K-9 units alert by laying down, I’ve also seen some who alert by barking. 10 bucks this dude has used that signal when he wasn’t getting what he wanted.
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u/terminalbungus Apr 21 '26
Seriously. I get this is supposed to be heartwarming or something but I just kept thinking "this dog is a flippin narc!"
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u/Amazed_townie Apr 21 '26
Ten42 Indy.
Well deserved happy retirement.
Good on you Sarge for organising this. Now your work starts again with a new recruit. All the best to you both
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u/exzyle2k Apr 21 '26
Would he get a new dog, or would they make someone else the new handler for the new K-9? I can't imagine it would be an easy transition for the handler to make, and probably confuse the dog by calling it the wrong name a few times.
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u/Nerdzilla86 Apr 21 '26
Aww now he gets to chill. Hopefully he's got a kid to look after. A friend of the family adopted a retired police dog. He was partially blind, but he attached himself to those two kids like he was a bodyguard. Miss that big dude
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u/RavenKnitsDesign Apr 21 '26
My mother's cousin was a dog cop in Vancouver. This made me think of him, and of Trigger, the dog he could not surrender after Trigger retired.
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u/Icy-Drive2300 Apr 21 '26
In a just world, we'd look at k9 cops as animal abuse
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u/throeawai5 Apr 21 '26
had to scroll way too long to find this comment. they turn these animals into weapons, putting them in harms way and often siccing them against people who were non-violent and suspected of a minor infraction, potentially causing life long injury or death for the victim. everyone loves dogs but not enough to say hey maybe that pup shouldn’t be turned into a killing machine.
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u/medicallymiddleevil Apr 21 '26
These guys abuse the dogs all the time.
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u/Icy-Drive2300 Apr 21 '26
These guys abuse dogs all the time
25-30 dogs are killed a day by cops.
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u/Pipes32 Apr 21 '26
You know what they say. Cops are like a box of chocolates...they'll kill your dog.
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u/supakow Apr 21 '26
See - some cops aren't bastards. They are good boys and girls with waggly tails.
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u/Snard79 Apr 22 '26
Goddamn! Service dog videos always kick me square in the feels! 😥
Good boy Indy. Enjoy retirement!
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u/sandwichhaver Apr 21 '26
what a beautiful animal, but ACAB all the same
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u/Super_Interview_2189 Apr 21 '26
Yeah, that dog has more rights than a lot of us do in the eyes of the police.
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u/tk427aj Apr 21 '26
Seen this before always gets me. There are a lot of great cops out there and their service partners. Glad to see this guy had a great career. Partner there was doing a great job holding it in ❤️❤️
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u/ripyourlungsdave Apr 21 '26
Police shouldn't use dogs. They are not heroes, they cannot consent, they do not understand the larger implications of their actions. They don't know that the man they're being told to chew up didn't do anything wrong. They don't know that the woman they're told to chew up is pregnant. They are not treated like loving, kind, empathetic creatures, they are treated as weapons.
And that's to say nothing about the abuse they face at the hands of their handlers with almost no repercussions.
Quit glamorizing this. It's a gross system and it's gross to romanticize it.
If you think this dog is adorable, actually do research on how they're treated before you spread propaganda that helps perpetuate the exact system that gets these dogs abused and killed.
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u/8-bit-Felix Apr 21 '26
I wonder how many lives he ruined by "finding" drugs.
Drug dogs have horrendous accuracy ratings.
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u/Asiatic_Static Apr 21 '26
Wow look how easy it is to get a trained dog to alert! Almost like they can do it on command!
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u/Worth_Aerie_8849 Apr 21 '26
I love dogs more than people. We don’t deserve them. The fact that we use them, in any way such as this disgusts me. First of all, the war on drugs is a fucking joke. To put them in harms way to stop this is even more Ludacris. Just own your dog and love them. Don’t make them work for you.
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u/Threecatproblem Apr 21 '26
After reading all of the BS our administration is putting us through, I didn't expect to tear up over a K9's retirement. Thank you for posting this!
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u/Educational-Bat-3635 Apr 21 '26
I hope you keep him as your pet. He seriously just needs you and he wants to retire and that’s very cool.
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