From a cop's best friend to just a man's best friend

The police department is going to get a new dog.
By JEANNE STARMACK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- You wouldn't coo at your average cop or want to pat him on the head, but you might be tempted to do that with Hurie.
As an 85-pound German shepherd, he's not your average cop.
Remember this, though, if you ever meet him: He's no average dog, either.
Sure, he's got those big brown eyes, those perky ears and that soft fur.
The way he wears his police badge -- dangling from his collar -- is kind of cute, too. Badge No. 602. Aaaaww.
And when he's at home with handler Sgt. Tom Collins, he's all play. He likes to chase his toys.
At work
While he's at the station, though, or in his cage in the police car, he's a totally different animal. He's working, and he's very protective of Collins, who has to be careful that no one makes a move Hurie might mistake for a threat toward his handler.
Collins constantly reviews Hurie's training with him, and a watchfulness in the dog's eyes tells you he's ready for anything to happen.
Hurie's had quite a distinguished career, with hundreds of drug arrests, tens of thousands of dollars in drug money seizures, and two lives saved. He found a 95-year-old man who'd collapsed in a field after wandering away from a nursing home, and he found a would-be suicide victim who'd covered herself with a pile of leaves in woods after she'd slit her wrists.
"I'd have walked right by her," Collins said.
Retirement
Despite his advancing age, Hurie's still mentally sharp, and he still has the drive to do his job. But arthritis is slowing him down, and so his days on the job are numbered. He's expected to retire in February, when he'll be 10. Most police dogs retire by age 8.
The department plans to start the process of getting a new dog in March, Collins said. It will come from a center in Sharpsville, Pa.
Then, after years of special training and service as a police dog, Hurie will stay home.
He came all the way from Czechoslovakia, where careful breeding curtails disabling conditions like hip dysplasia. He can find a single shell casing in a field; he can subdue a fleeing suspect with a well-placed compression bite to the arm; and he once found 17,000 in drug money duct-taped to the firewall of a car.
Now, he's going to be Collins' full-time pet. He'll spend his days with another household pet, Tiggie, a 5-pound Yorkie-Maltese.
Hurie's not going to take retirement well, Collins predicts. Nothing against Tiggie. They get along fine. But the day Collins puts on his uniform and goes out the door without Hurie is going to be a hard one.
"He won't understand it," Collins said. "He's still going to want to follow me out."
It will be a kind of retirement for Collins as well, who isn't going to handle the new dog. As a road sergeant, he said, he will have more administrative duties. Besides, having to bring home the new dog would upset Hurie, he said, who would be very jealous.
So the new dog and a brand new handler will join the remaining K-9 team of Buck, 5, and officer Chris Collins, Tom's brother. Hurie will have to be content with Tiggie, who likes to chase him around. That, Collins said, will keep Hurie young.
starmack@vindy.com