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K9 Grendel was also narcotics trained. He sniffed out pounds of meth, marijuana and cocaine during his nine years on the streets.That’s a whole lot of drugs taken off our streets. Grendel is an“aggressive” alerter so when he found drugs he would scratch at them rather than just do a passive alert (sit and stare). He was so good at finding drugs on the street that he pulled out the backseat of a car with his paws and mouth just to get to one ecstasy pill. Sometimes on a search he got a tasty “find” – such as during a building search in a grocery store after the alarm went off. He retrieved a couple of croissants from the bakery and finished them off in a couple of seconds. Guess he knew that wasn’t what they were searching for.
In 2018, K9 Grendel retired after a long and productive service to our community. At that time, Sgt. Jackie Knudsen took her faithful partner to her home to enjoy retirement as part of her family. Anyone that ever saw Sgt. Knudsen and K9 Grendel together, could visibly see the strong bond that they shared.
Of course, when a bond is as strong as Grendel’s and Sgt Knudsens, it is extremely difficult for the “retiree” to get left behind when their partner now goes to work with a “new”partner. In this case, Sgt. Knudsen’s new partner was a handsome Belgian Malinois/German Shepherd named Negan. Grendel was very protective of his handler and wasn’t giving her up to another alpha K9 gracefully. Grendel and Negan had to go through the normal power struggles and eventually reached an agreement – to tolerate each other. Sgt. Knudsen made sure that Grendel got some very special attention to help him transition into being a retired couch potato while his handler and Negan were out chasing the bad guys.
Grendel was 12 years old and feeling his age but still indulged in some of his favorite past times. He loved stealing stuffed animals from the kids’ rooms. Sgt. Knudsen’s kids had to learn the special command to drop the stuffies – “fooey”.Grendel also learned a new trick – to drink out of the toilet. A little 4 pound chihuahua taught Grendel how to do this. I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks. Another favorite past-time was to sit on the couch with the oldest daughter while she reads.What a way to kick back and enjoy retirement!
Grendel used to sleep on his handler’s bed, but as his joints got a bit creakier, he was sleeping in his retirement bed from the Larimer Retired K9 Foundation now. Since Negan has to sleep in his kennel, Grendel could smirk at his handler’s new partner and say “haha, look at where I sleep!”
Well deserved, Grendel. Our community thanks you for everything you did to make them safer during your nine years of service.
We also thank Sgt. Knudsen for taking such good care of you!
