Died – 1\/30\/17
\nHandler – Cpl. Daniel Muhlhahn<\/p>\n
Officers Give Final Send-Off to Narcotics K-9<\/p>\n
A retired Collier County Sheriff\u2019s Office K-9 passed away Monday, following eight years of duty on the force. In his final hours, deputies in the K-9 unit gathered for a final send-off as a thank you for his service. \u201cThat\u2019s what we do in K-9 is support each other because it\u2019s so tough,\u201d said K-9 Dewey\u2019s handler Cpl. Daniel Muhlhahn. \u201cYou spend more time with your dog than you do with your family.\u201d K-9 Dewey died at age 12 after a career in the Vice Narcotics Drug Interdiction Unit. He spent the last three years of life basking in retirement at home with his handler and his \u201cstep brother\u201d K-9 George, who is an active member of the CCSO K-9 Unit. K-9 Dewey, a chocolate lab, replaced his father, K-9 Woody, who was also a member of the narcotics unit until his retirement. Cpl. Muhlhahn trained all three of the dogs and said chocolate labs make for terrific partners. \u201cThey\u2019re so gentle,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can use them in demos in schools and everything like that, and we did a lot of those.\u201d K-9 Dewey began working at age 2, assisting in federal, state and local cases. He also regularly assisted the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and examined parcels from two major carriers. During one of their most memorable cases together, Cpl. Muhlhahn said K-9 Dewey helped recover about $100,000 worth of marijuana that a criminal had been mailing via a postal carrier over a period of three to four months. K-9 Dewey retired about three years ago and was replaced on the force by his brother, K-9 George. Cpl. Muhlhahn said retirement suited K-9 Dewey. \u201cMost dogs either go crazy or they don\u2019t like having another dog in the house because they\u2019re alpha dogs,\u201d he said. \u201cBut labs are so mellow. He took retirement very well.\u201d In his final years, K-9 Dewey suffered from breathing problems that became progressively worse until Cpl. Muhlhahn made the difficult decision to have him put down. He gathered fellow members of the K-9 Unit as K-9 Dewey walked into the vet\u2019s office Monday. \u201cThe big thing I miss so much is that when I come home, he won\u2019t have a slipper in his mouth, waiting for me,\u201d Cpl. Muhlhahn said. The Collier County Sheriff\u2019s Office thanks K-9 Dewey for his years of service to the community. \u201cIt was a great pleasure to work with my best friend,\u201d Cpl. Muhlhahn said. \u201cGod speed, Dewey.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Died – 1\/30\/17 Handler – Cpl. Daniel Muhlhahn Officers Give Final Send-Off to Narcotics K-9 A retired Collier County Sheriff\u2019s Office K-9 passed away Monday, following eight years of duty on the force. In his final hours, deputies in the K-9 unit gathered for a final send-off as a thank you for his service. \u201cThat\u2019s …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2812,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-2810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-k9memorial","tag-fl"],"yoast_head":"\n