Related Articles
9/29/18
Handler – Officer William Gifford
Collier County Sheriff’s Office’s longest-living K-9, Bandit, dies at 14 after retirement
During his time with the sheriff’s office, Bandit took down and apprehended about 20 suspects and assisted in hundreds of drug arrests. “We were like peanut butter and jelly,” Gifford said. “This dog would wake up at 100 mph every morning, and he usually went to bed at 150 mph. His energy was there, and I, too, am a very energetic person.” One of the highlights of Bandit’s career was discovering 90 pounds of marijuana freezer-wrapped and hidden in compartments of a car, stopped along the interstate. “For us, we couldn’t smell it,” Gifford said. “Even when we searched the vehicle. We opened it up and knew what we had in the duffel bags and couldn’t smell it. The power of his nose found it.” Gifford said another highlight was when Bandit took down and helped capture a suspect in a home invasion. The incident began with a car chase after Gifford heard the call on the scanner. When the call came over the scanner, Gifford said he and Bandit were “goofing around” in a parking lot, and it took Bandit extra time to get in the patrol car to respond to the call. “Had he not been a goofball out in the parking lot, I don’t know if I would have saw that car speeding by, because of the timing,” Gifford said. “There were all of these little goofy things with him and you just couldn’t put your finger on it.” Bandit also loved doing demonstrations for groups of people when he worked for the sheriff’s office. “This dog just had an ego like you wouldn’t believe,” Gifford said. “When we would go to schools and other places, this dog walked around like he was the god. The kids loved him, and he was just such a clown.” Eventually, Bandit began to slow down, and the sheriff’s office decided it was time for him to retire. Gifford had to start looking for a new K-9 for the sheriff’s office to purchase, so his wife, Patricia Gifford, a commander with the Collier County Sheriff’s Office’s community engagement department, began to care for Bandit while he lived at their home. Bandit lived an additional four years at home with the Giffords, which is unusually long for a retired police dog. “We took tremendous care of him,” Patricia Gifford said. “When he wasn’t getting as much exercise, he put on a little bit of weight, so immediately I started cooking a fresh food diet for him.” Many police dogs die at a younger age because they lose their purpose and can feel they aren’t needed anymore, Patricia Gifford said. “Police dogs are not your normal type of dogs,” William Gifford said. “We get these police dogs and they are constantly subjected to changing environments. It’s a big thing to stop bringing that dog to work every day. They don’t understand why they are being left at home.” Patricia Gifford said her family would do things to ensure Bandit still felt like he had a purpose. Bandit was allowed to “make his rounds” around the house and act as sort of a guard dog when a new person would come by the house. The Giffords also found ways for Bandit to use his hunting and tracking skills at home by leaving pieces of kibble in their yard for him to find. “We always made sure he felt needed or wanted or important,” Patricia Gifford said. “We didn’t want him to think or feel like he had no more purpose. We included him with our family on everything, and we encouraged him to do his dog things he liked to do.” Bandit died Sept. 29 in his sleep at home because of old age. He never suffered from any major illnesses or medical complications, Patricia Gifford said. “We are going through a little bit of an empty nest syndrome not having Bandit here,” Patricia Gifford said. “He literally was part of our family. He wasn’t just a dog, he was so much more to us than that.” William Gifford said the bond he shared with Bandit has not been replicated with his new K-9, Titan. “It’s different in a lot of ways,” William Gifford said. “Titan is a very serious dog. He doesn’t goof around like Bandit did. He doesn’t have an outgoing personality.” For William Gifford, Bandit was his first K-9 and will most likely be his most memorable. “He was always just running around,” William Gifford said. “He was also very obedient and very loyal to me. At the end of his career, I could have that dog do anything. He was willing to do anything for me.”
