MONROE - Officer Loki, 90 pounds of muscle and dark brown hair, did a quick sweep of the room for drugs, nosing in boxes and chair cushions. He was finding nothing - after all, he was in a police station - and snooped more anxiously, glancing at his partner, Sgt. Dan Maresch, every few seconds.
Maresch gave a little chuckle, led Loki into the next room and encouraged him to try again.
Suddenly Loki stopped and pressed his nose hard against the air vents of a locker. He pawed the vents once and then twice, and then repeatedly with both paws. Yep, there are drugs in there, he indicated. With ears held erect, he looked straight at Maresch, and seemed to say, "Yep, I'll take my reward of a great big hefty pet now."
Maresch obliges and adds a few words of enthusiasm. As he straightens up again, he nods towards the locker.
"That's the evidence locker," he said, smiling.
Unaccustomed to relaxing when out of his patrol vehicle, Loki, a Belgian Malinois, keeps eye contact with Maresch, waiting for the next signal, his next command.
When he finally decided more work is not forthcoming any time soon, he banged the side of his head against Maresch's knee or a visitor's elbow and held it there. He wanted petting.
"He's a dedicated partner," Maresch said. "The best partner you could have."
Recruited from Southern Police Canine, a professional dog training academy in North Carolina, with funds contributed by several local businesses and individuals, Loki was given several duties including tracking, drug searches, evidence searches, building searches and public education.
The K-9 unit in Monroe was started initially for the purpose of tracking missing people. Drug search capability was just an added bonus, according to Monroe Police Chief Fred Kelley.
Because of his dual-purpose ability, Loki became part of a cooperative group of canine officers in southern Wisconsin that work together during large drug searches, often at schools.
One of Loki's most memorable cases, said Maresch, was the first one he got when he came to Monroe in November 2005.
He found an elderly woman with Alzheimer's disease, who had wondered away from her care facility at 3 a.m., sitting in the grass in her nightgown.
"He showed me every step she took," Maresch said.
In another noted case, Loki is credited for finding a half pound of marijuana at the scene of a traffic stop.
And in May 2008, on an assist call with Green County Sheriff's Department's canine officer Grisha, Loki helped find a suspect who fled from a stolen vehicle into the fields and a wooded area. Grisha tracked the man to within about 50 to 100 yards, before he needed to be rested. Loki picked up the trail where Grisha left off.
"The guy was lying in the ditch covered with leaves," Maresch said. "Loki just looked up at me and wanted his reward."
While Grisha, a German Shepherd, doesn't like Loki "for some reason," Maresch said, the Monroe police canine gets along well with the Lafayette County Sheriff's canine, Cody, who is also a Belgian Malinois. Loki and Cody will work side by side.
Maresch has seen the two dogs take down one man together.
"One was on one arm and the other was on the other arm," he said.
Loki was named for his mischievousness by Maresch's children, taking a cue from the Norse mythological god Loki, who helped other gods but could also cause them problems.
"Never underestimate him. He can outsmart you very quickly," Maresch said. "He catches me off guard."
And Loki doesn't like being excluded from his duty - which is basically being by Maresch's side at all times.
Maresch once left Loki, still new on the job, in the patrol car while he went to investigate a broken window.
"I didn't want him to get his feet cut up," Maresch said. "There was glass all over the ground."
But when he returned to the vehicle, Loki was watching for him, with a mouth full of foam rubber. He had taken a bite out of the back seat.
"He spit it out when he saw me," Maresch said. "That required a letter to the chief to explain the damage."
Two canine officers to retire next year
While Loki - and Maresch - have learned their places in the partnership, time is short for Loki, the first canine at the Monroe Police Department.
Kelley had expected Loki's retirement date to be sometime in the second half of 2012, after he turned 9 years old in June.
But that date is now in early 2012.
"Loki is experiencing arthritis issues," Kelley said. "He still can work, but we have moved up his retirement next year."
The vigorous training and duty, and always jumping in and out of patrol vehicles, is hard on the dog's body, according to Maresch.
"It's amazing how fast time goes by," Maresch said. "But in the last six to eight months, he has slowed down. I've had to back off his training."
Loki will retire at Maresch's home. No longer confined to his kennel there, Loki will join the family in the house, with seven children, two Mastiffs and an 8-pound toy rat terrier.
In order to recruit a replacement, a $15,000 investment, Loki and Maresch have been spending extra hours this year campaigning to raise the needed funds. They've averaged about $1,000 a month in donations since June.
Unfortunately, because of the retirement date being moved ahead, the police department is still about $10,000 short of the required funds.
Kelley said he budgeted for the shortfall in his 2012 funds, delaying the purchase of a new vehicle to do so, because he felt the canine unit was important to continue in Monroe. And donations are still being accepted, he added.
Green County is also losing Grisha next year. He retires in April.
Green County Sheriff Jeff Skatrud said Grisha, who started serving the department in 2004, is almost 9 years old also.
"Physically, it's time," Skatrud said.
The Green County Sheriff's Department also budgets for a replacement canine, but that money comes from drug forfeitures, not tax dollars, Skatrud said.
The department is exploring kennels from which to recruit its next canine.
The arrangement between the Monroe Police and Green County Sheriff's departments' canine units to work together or in tandem has helped minimize overtime costs for both departments, Skatrud said.
Maresch gave a little chuckle, led Loki into the next room and encouraged him to try again.
Suddenly Loki stopped and pressed his nose hard against the air vents of a locker. He pawed the vents once and then twice, and then repeatedly with both paws. Yep, there are drugs in there, he indicated. With ears held erect, he looked straight at Maresch, and seemed to say, "Yep, I'll take my reward of a great big hefty pet now."
Maresch obliges and adds a few words of enthusiasm. As he straightens up again, he nods towards the locker.
"That's the evidence locker," he said, smiling.
Unaccustomed to relaxing when out of his patrol vehicle, Loki, a Belgian Malinois, keeps eye contact with Maresch, waiting for the next signal, his next command.
When he finally decided more work is not forthcoming any time soon, he banged the side of his head against Maresch's knee or a visitor's elbow and held it there. He wanted petting.
"He's a dedicated partner," Maresch said. "The best partner you could have."
Recruited from Southern Police Canine, a professional dog training academy in North Carolina, with funds contributed by several local businesses and individuals, Loki was given several duties including tracking, drug searches, evidence searches, building searches and public education.
The K-9 unit in Monroe was started initially for the purpose of tracking missing people. Drug search capability was just an added bonus, according to Monroe Police Chief Fred Kelley.
Because of his dual-purpose ability, Loki became part of a cooperative group of canine officers in southern Wisconsin that work together during large drug searches, often at schools.
One of Loki's most memorable cases, said Maresch, was the first one he got when he came to Monroe in November 2005.
He found an elderly woman with Alzheimer's disease, who had wondered away from her care facility at 3 a.m., sitting in the grass in her nightgown.
"He showed me every step she took," Maresch said.
In another noted case, Loki is credited for finding a half pound of marijuana at the scene of a traffic stop.
And in May 2008, on an assist call with Green County Sheriff's Department's canine officer Grisha, Loki helped find a suspect who fled from a stolen vehicle into the fields and a wooded area. Grisha tracked the man to within about 50 to 100 yards, before he needed to be rested. Loki picked up the trail where Grisha left off.
"The guy was lying in the ditch covered with leaves," Maresch said. "Loki just looked up at me and wanted his reward."
While Grisha, a German Shepherd, doesn't like Loki "for some reason," Maresch said, the Monroe police canine gets along well with the Lafayette County Sheriff's canine, Cody, who is also a Belgian Malinois. Loki and Cody will work side by side.
Maresch has seen the two dogs take down one man together.
"One was on one arm and the other was on the other arm," he said.
Loki was named for his mischievousness by Maresch's children, taking a cue from the Norse mythological god Loki, who helped other gods but could also cause them problems.
"Never underestimate him. He can outsmart you very quickly," Maresch said. "He catches me off guard."
And Loki doesn't like being excluded from his duty - which is basically being by Maresch's side at all times.
Maresch once left Loki, still new on the job, in the patrol car while he went to investigate a broken window.
"I didn't want him to get his feet cut up," Maresch said. "There was glass all over the ground."
But when he returned to the vehicle, Loki was watching for him, with a mouth full of foam rubber. He had taken a bite out of the back seat.
"He spit it out when he saw me," Maresch said. "That required a letter to the chief to explain the damage."
Two canine officers to retire next year
While Loki - and Maresch - have learned their places in the partnership, time is short for Loki, the first canine at the Monroe Police Department.
Kelley had expected Loki's retirement date to be sometime in the second half of 2012, after he turned 9 years old in June.
But that date is now in early 2012.
"Loki is experiencing arthritis issues," Kelley said. "He still can work, but we have moved up his retirement next year."
The vigorous training and duty, and always jumping in and out of patrol vehicles, is hard on the dog's body, according to Maresch.
"It's amazing how fast time goes by," Maresch said. "But in the last six to eight months, he has slowed down. I've had to back off his training."
Loki will retire at Maresch's home. No longer confined to his kennel there, Loki will join the family in the house, with seven children, two Mastiffs and an 8-pound toy rat terrier.
In order to recruit a replacement, a $15,000 investment, Loki and Maresch have been spending extra hours this year campaigning to raise the needed funds. They've averaged about $1,000 a month in donations since June.
Unfortunately, because of the retirement date being moved ahead, the police department is still about $10,000 short of the required funds.
Kelley said he budgeted for the shortfall in his 2012 funds, delaying the purchase of a new vehicle to do so, because he felt the canine unit was important to continue in Monroe. And donations are still being accepted, he added.
Green County is also losing Grisha next year. He retires in April.
Green County Sheriff Jeff Skatrud said Grisha, who started serving the department in 2004, is almost 9 years old also.
"Physically, it's time," Skatrud said.
The Green County Sheriff's Department also budgets for a replacement canine, but that money comes from drug forfeitures, not tax dollars, Skatrud said.
The department is exploring kennels from which to recruit its next canine.
The arrangement between the Monroe Police and Green County Sheriff's departments' canine units to work together or in tandem has helped minimize overtime costs for both departments, Skatrud said.