DARLINGTON — It took the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office less than three hours on June 12 to find an adoptive family for Cody, the agency’s retiring K-9 officer.

A post to the department’s Facebook page that morning was shared more than 130 times and quickly attracted offers to adopt Cody.

By early afternoon, the sheriff’s office posted that it had “a couple of very promising homes in line for Cody.” After a bonding visit with one family the following weekend, Cody was ready to move in. The family wishes to remain anonymous for now, according to Sheriff Reg Gill. 

Cody had been living with Paul Klang, the dog’s handler since 2015. But Klang’s city residence in Darlington didn’t offer the Belgian Malinois “much room to roam,” Klang said.

Cody’s adoptive family lives out in the country with more room to play, he said. The family already has a Mastiff, and the two dogs instantly took a liking to each other. Most police K-9s ignore other dogs, Klang said, so the budding friendship is unusual and lucky.

It’s a “great, loving” home where Cody can live out his golden years, Klang said.

Because Klang has moved from patrol duty into investigations, he won’t be continuing as the department’s K-9 handler. Several other deputies within the department have expressed interest in becoming the next handler, and Gill expects to have a new K-9 team in place by the fall.

Klang said he’ll miss the long night shifts working alongside Cody.

“It’s been a pleasure,” Klang said. “Nothing is better than him being around in the (squad). I loved to see him do his circle dance when he watches me go to my car, getting excited to go to work.”

Cody loved his job, he added, but it’s “time for him to become a dog again.”

Cody’s last act of service for the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office was June 27, when he, Klang and Gill accepted a $15,000 donation from a local family for the purchase of a new K-9.

John Schwartz of Darlington presented the gift from the estate of his mother Audrey Schwartz. It was made in memory of her husband and his father, longtime Darlington veterinarian Ralph Schwartz.

Schwartz said his mother had the idea to give to the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office K-9 program for several years before her death in 2016. She had wanted to give back to the community, and he said he hoped people would read and learn about her trust’s donations to local organizations and be inspired to give back as well.

The Audrey Schwartz Trust also recently made four similarly large donations to other area organizations: the Darlington Fire Department, Holy Rosary Church, the Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County Cardiac Rehab Department and Rural Medical Ambulance Service.

The Schwartz donation to the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office went into its special K-9 fund.

“It’s a separate fund from taxpayer dollars,” Gill said. 

Including the donation from Schwartz, the fund is currently at about $26,000, he said. What isn’t spent on the initial cost and training of a new K-9 and handler goes to the ongoing maintenance of the K-9 program, including expensive vet bills and any necessary equipment for the dog or the K-9 team’s squad car.

Honoring Cody’s service: ‘The perfect dog’

Cody came to the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office as an 18-month-old in 2009. He replaced the previous K-9, Riley, who had developed health problems in his older age and had to be put to sleep about a year later. Like Riley then, Cody now faces health problems, including arthritis from the repetitive stress of jumping up into his squad. He also recently had a noncancerous cyst removed from a joint on his right leg.

Fred Norder, a 20-year veteran of the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office who served as handler for Riley and for Cody until 2015, has good memories of working with both dogs.

Cody was more “hard-headed and stubborn” than Riley, Norder said, but he was also more adaptive. He thrived in SWAT situations.

K-9s “really need to get along with the SWAT guys,” Norder said. “Cody was the perfect dog for that.”

Seeking regular 9-to-5 hours, Norder left the agency in 2015 for a civilian job as a safety director in Iowa. Leaving the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office was “very, very hard,” he said. He contemplated adopting Cody and taking the dog with him to Iowa, but he saw a couple of issues with this option.

Adopting Cody before the dog’s service was through would have cost Norder $6,000 to $7,000 to buy out the balance of his remaining working life from the sheriff’s office, and unlike Riley, who was purchased with Department of Justice funds, “Cody was purchased with donations completely from the public.”

Plus, Norder said, “he still had a good three years left” as a working police dog.

What it takes to adopt a police dog

Adopting a retired police dog isn’t like adopting other dogs, Norder said. It takes precaution and a basic understanding of the K-9’s psychology, training and history.

“K-9s are always loved, always cared for very, very well; treated immaculately,” he said. But, he added, “those dogs were never really pets. They don’t get dog treats, they don’t get table scraps. … They can hurt somebody. They are trained to apprehend bad people, so if something triggers them, they can hurt someone. Most often, we don’t keep them in the house. About 90 to 95 percent of their work is outdoors so you really want to keep them acclimated (to the weather).”

Norder kept Riley and Cody in a “very nice dog house” outdoors that protected the dogs from windy, wet conditions.

For Norder, who has four children, having police dogs at home meant training the children from a young age to respect the dog’s profession and training.

“They were around police dogs all of their lives, but we never let them get down in (the dogs’) faces. You just have to be cautious with it,” he said.

It isn’t enough to “love dogs” to adopt a police K-9.

“It’s not about you loving dogs, it’s about you respecting what that dog does,” he said. “I feel I’m very good with animals but I’m not going to (approach any animal). There has to be a bonding time.” 

Norder is back in law enforcement again. He lives with his family in Leitchfield, Kentucky, and has been a patrol deputy since May 2017 with the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office. He was voted Deputy of the Year last year.

With Cody retiring and needing a home in June, Norder once again had the opportunity to adopt him.

The timing didn’t work, however. Norder was recently selected to be Grayson County’s K-9 handler. He picked up his new partner, Marco, this week.

“That is why I was unable to take Cody. I would’ve obviously adopted him but I couldn’t because of my current situation,” Norder said.

“There’s not a lot of glory in having a police dog,” Norder said. “If you like a spit-and-polish uniform, if you like to look really good, being a K-9 handler is not for you. You’re going to get drool on you, you’re going to get dragged through the mud, you’re going to be picking ticks off of you.” 

But like Cody’s second handler, Deputy Klang, Norder emphasized what a rewarding experience it is to have a close working relationship with a K-9.

“They’re such smart dogs … They have no sense of fear. It’s almost crazy sometimes,” he said.

- Kayla Barnes, editor of the Darlington Republican Journal, contributed reporting to this story