Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office  

2611 N. Guadalupe St
Seguin, Texas 78155
(830)379-1224


In 2006, local deputies buried their first K-9, Guido, who died from cancer.

Sheriff’s department remembers K-9 unit
- By Melissa Johnson The Gazette-Enterprise - Published August 18, 2006

GUADALUPE COUNTY — The Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office paid its last respects to the department’s first K-9 deputy in a formal ceremony Wednesday. “There were a lot people there — more than I’d expect at my funeral,” said deputy and original handler Scott Mossinger. “Each person has their own story about the dog.” Deputy Guido, a 10-year-old German shepherd, died on the operating table from a tumor in his abdomen Saturday. Guido, said Sheriff Arnold Zwicke, will be missed by the entire department. By all accounts “the perfect police dog,” Guido was not only a pioneer, but an exemplary tracker and narcotics dog. After just eight days on the job, Guido landed a 110-pound marijuana bust when he sniffed out a van stopped on a highway. Officers tore apart the van’s headliner at Guido’s insistence but started to question his nose and their judgment when nothing immediately turned up. “This was the first time we used the dogs. We were worried when we didn’t find anything. We just tore apart this van.” Mossinger said. “But when we ran a density check [back at the station], we found all of it.” When Guido wasn’t protecting the community by sniffing out bad guys or drugs, the police dog was helping the sheriff’s office connect with the community at school district events and local demonstrations. “He had a light switch,” Mossinger said. “He knew when to be aggressive or not.” “At PTA day at Marion, there were about 500 little kids running around and about half were riding him like a horse and the other half were pulling his tail and he didn’t think nothing of it,” Zwicke said. About a month ago, Guido was formally retired from duty by the county commissioners court. Hip degeneration, common in big dogs like Guido, and his more than a decade on this earth convinced the department of the decision. “But it was a tough choice,” Mossinger said. “He hated me going to work without him. That’s the thing about a working dog like that. Their life expectancy isn’t that long after retirement.” Guido spent his last weeks at Mossinger’s place, guarding his handler’s patrol car. Guido was laid to rest in a memorial canine park created in his honor behind the office building. He served the sheriff’s office from May 2001 to July 2006.
write up submitted by:(Ron Maloney)  ron.maloney@seguingazette.com  -  with BIG thanks...