K-9 crews real troopers in Las Vegas trials

Karen Zekan

Monday, Oct. 28, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Metro Police have seven more golden trophies in their case today after an impressive showing at the Las Vegas K-9 Trials.

Metro placed third among 46 of the best dog-handler teams in the Southwest.

About 150 spectators braved Sunday's bone-chilling wind and sprinkles at Western High School's stadium, a fraction of the crowds drawn in past years.

Yet the dogs seemed oblivious to anything but challenge.

Obedience work came first, testing the canines' ability to listen in the whipping wind to their handlers' commands.

Toenails next clicked their way through a nine-part obstacle course, trying the dogs' technique over four-foot walls of wood and wire, through tunnels, up stairs and ramps, and across a rickety wooden pallet balanced by uneven bricks.

Metro Officer Bob Hindi and Ex, his 5-year-old German shepherd, were awarded a second place for a near-perfect scaling of the apparatus.

Caesar, a German shepherd with the Bakersfield, Calif., Police, froze the crowd's heart with an ugly spill after catching a leg on a wire fence obstacle and landing in a somersault.

Yet Caesar was back on all fours in a second, continuing through the obstacles. One officer said it was a tribute to the heart and determination of true police dogs.

Metro's Darin Garness was forced to pull his Belgian Malinois from the competition when Rudy, 5, jammed a front paw joint during a collision with an agitator during the handler-protection event.

Rudy was well into a flawless performance until the injury, having clamped onto the swinging arm of a fleeing suspect and then releasing to defend his handler from a second arm-waving agitator. Seconds later, he limped to his handler's side and was walked off the field.

"He jammed it on impact," said Garness, stroking the injured paw.

Dr. Michelle Hoyt, who was on the sidelines, checked the swelling limb and insisted upon an X-ray. The final prognosis -- a sprained foreleg -- means the duo will be off the streets while Rudy heals.

Trials give handlers a chance to interact and learn from each other's technique, as well as provide the public a glimpse into their world of strategy, stress and boundless achievement.

Personalities also emerge:

* Prinz, who belongs to Deputy Mark Tally of San Diego County Sheriff's Office, loves to chase shadows and flashlight beams, and decided he didn't want to go through the tube obstacle.

* Metro's Steve Junge partners with Breston, a Malinois, nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman" for his mid-air leaping abilities and phenomenal speed classic to the breed.

* Bernd, a 7-year-old German shepherd with the San Diego Police Department, barked his way through the entire obstacle course, perhaps trying to tell "dad" how it's done.

"It's always exciting when you see dog standards set so high," said Hindi at day's end. "The department is strongly in favor of that. We did so good -- out of 46 teams, Ex did so well. It feels like it's your own dog, like part of the family has won."

Closing ceremonies were touched with melancholy for Officer Bill Froelich of the West Valley City, Utah, Police Department. This year's Las Vegas trials will be the last for Cora, his 8 1/2 year-old German shepherd -- the only female police dog working in Utah.

Affectionately known as "the Cora Monster" for clacking and barking at suspects she detains, Cora turned in an impressive performance during this weekend's area search by finding the hidden bad guy in 14 seconds.

Her teeth are yellowed with age, some of them pulled. She'll soon spend a stress-free retirement roaming Froelich's 1.5 acres with the family's horses, cat and two dogs. Few shepherds work past age 8 or 9; Malinois can last as K-9s as old as age 12.

"When the shower goes on at 6, she's ready to go to work," he said. "When I start the truck, she's ready. She'll run out the door with dog food in her mouth. Cora loves to work. The department got their money's worth with this dog."

Many K-9 officers opt for reassignments within the department once their dogs retire or die. Froelich will stay, although he anticipates great frustrations in starting all over again with a boisterous pup.

"I can't have the same expectations for another dog as I did with her," he said. "It takes time to get that experience. Cora's one in a thousand."