Louie was born to fight crime. With an athletic build, a gregarious personality and a nose for trouble, he also fell victim to a classic cop cliche. “I was taking him around and introducing him. When we went into dispatch, he jumped into the trash, grabbed a half-eaten doughnut and ate it,” recalled Louie’s partner, Deputy Rudy Guarnero, a K-9 officer with the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office. “From that day, I knew he’d be a good police dog.” K-9 Louie, age 11, died Aug. 10 after being diagnosed with extensive kidney failure. He was laid to rest behind the sheriff’s office, alongside other K-9s who served the county well.The yellow Labrador had retired from service nearly a year ago and made his home with Guarnero. He developed health problems in his last days, and when it was determined that Louie’s kidney failure was terminal, Guarnero made the difficult decision to have him put down.

“I am just glad he didn’t have to suffer and that he didn’t have to be in more pain,” Guarnero said solemnly. The sheriff’s office held a memorial service for Louie on Friday. His law enforcement family — both human and canine — gathered to say goodbye at his grave next to K-9s Sir and Guido. As Sheriff Arnold Zwicke said a few words about the departed narcotics search dog, the crowd was filled with tearful sniffs and the occasional K-9 whine. “Louie was known as the most mischievous, and he was one of the most highly-recognized K-9s in the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office,” Zwicke said. The sheriff also thanked Dr. Scott Bugai and Dr. Bill Campaigne for caring for Louie, as well as James and Laurie Deathrage at Carter Memorials for, again, donating a headstone for one of the force’s K-9s.

Like the other K-9 markers, Louie’s stone will feature a photo of the happy-go-lucky lab, once completed. Louie, who came to Guadalupe County in 2004 at the age of 3, made quite the impression during his career. He competed in a National Narcotics Detector Dog Association event, detecting marijuana and cocaine planted as part of the competition. In 2007 he placed fifth and the following year he took first place. He was also a champion on the beat, uncovering thousands of dollars in drugs hidden in homes and vehicles. “There are many stories we could tell about Rudy and Louie,” Zwicke said. “Throwing him his Kong with Louie swallowing it whole, requiring surgery to have it removed from his stomach only to qualify the next day; chewing up the TV remote in the motel; The 50 pounds of cocaine he found on a traffic stop; the numerous searches; the request for Rudy and Louie by the DEA and many other agencies; we could go on and on about the partnership those two had together.”

Guarnero admitted that Louie, at first, didn’t appear to be the kind of dog he wanted. “I was disappointed at first because I was expecting a German shepherd,” he said. However, the two became inseparable over the years, sharing a love for crime fighting and hot wings. Once, during a competition, Guarnero left Louie in a hotel room for a short time. He returned to find that Louie had raided leftover wings that Guarnero left behind. “I came back and found wings scattered all over the bed,” he recalled with a laugh. “Louie was asleep on the bed with his head on the pillow and a wing still in his mouth.” When Louie retired last year, Guarnero was given a new working K-9, German shepherd Tom. Though no longer an active K-9, Louie was quick to help show the rookie the ropes.