Died – 10\/12\/17
\nHandler – Deputy Randall Purvis<\/p>\n
K9 Dan Passes<\/p>\n
The Randolph County Sheriff\u2019s Office lost one of its officers last week. Dan, a bloodhound with the K-9 Unit, died after a large tumor was found in his abdomen. He was just 4 years old. Dep. Randall Purvis was his handler for nearly three years and he talked about his time with Dan. \u201cDan and his brother Odie were donated by Hockett Dairy,\u201d Purvis said. The two dogs were trained extensively for three months before being allowed to track real cases. Purvis said the dogs picked up tracking pretty quickly, running a half-mile trail their first day of training. They continued to train for 16 hours a month through woods, fields, parking lots and roadways, he said. With K-9 Unit dogs, Purvis said, training is continuous, allowing the animals to retain their skills. He said cases often come in spurts, but the busiest times are during warmer weather when people are more likely to be doing outdoor activities such as hiking. \u201cWe do about 30 tracks a year,\u201d said Purvis. \u201cDan probably did 90 tracks in real life.\u201d Dan had a unique personality, his handler said. \u201cHe was more playful than Odie. He was like a puppy and he never met a stranger.\u201d For that reason, Dan was taken to public events, such as at schools, where children liked to play with him. And he was more than willing to play back. Purvis said Dan liked tracking deer and would often want to veer off a run when he picked up a deer scent. But it was his friendliness that set him apart. \u201cThe funniest thing happened on his first real-life track,\u201d Purvis said. They were called to track a suspect who had stolen a car and was involved in a chase. The suspect parked the car and ran off into some woods. The trackers found the suspect near a creek, where he was captured and handcuffed. \u201cWe were standing around talking when we saw Dan licking the guy,\u201d Purvis said. \u201cDan wanted to play with everybody.\u201d Dan\u2019s eating habits provided Purvis clues that something wasn\u2019t right. \u201cHe would eat anything, but Taco Bell was his favorite,\u201d Purvis said. \u201cHe also liked sausage biscuits. \u201cFor about a week and a half, he wasn\u2019t eating right, leaving some of his dog food in his bowl,\u201d Purvis said, thinking at the time that Dan was just upset about changing vehicles. Then Purvis came to work after a few days off and \u201csaw Dan\u2019s ribs poking out. I took him to the vet.\u201d The veterinarian tested Dan for parasites but the tests came back negative. Then the vet felt a mass in Dan\u2019s stomach and an X-ray showed a tumor. They decided to do exploratory surgery on Dan to remove the tumor. But when the vet went in, he found that the tumor was much larger than expected and wrapped around Dan\u2019s kidneys and spleen. To remove it, Purvis said, would cause Dan to bleed to death. So the decision was made to put Dan down. He was buried at Purvis\u2019 house. Sheriff Robert Graves and Maj. Bernie Maness were in attendance. A radio operator honored Dan by calling his number and checking him off for the last time. \u201cI still want to be in the K-9 Unit if they get another dog,\u201d said Purvis, noting that Dan was his first K-9 dog. When that happens, Purvis will go train with that dog for a period of time until they\u2019re ready for real-life cases. But he said he can wait a little while. \u201cI don\u2019t want to start this week.\u201d Let Dan\u2019s memory fade just a bit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Died – 10\/12\/17 Handler – Deputy Randall Purvis K9 Dan Passes The Randolph County Sheriff\u2019s Office lost one of its officers last week. Dan, a bloodhound with the K-9 Unit, died after a large tumor was found in his abdomen. He was just 4 years old. Dep. Randall Purvis was his handler for nearly three …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4130,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[36],"class_list":["post-4128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-k9memorial","tag-nc"],"yoast_head":"\n