Tango PD

Tango is an almost 15-year-old Belgian Malinois who worked for the sheriffs department for at least several years, maybe as many as 6 to 7 years. I don’t know a lot about his career, but I do know that he was trained in tracking, drug detection, and bite work. He found a lot of drugs during his career and visited many schools to do presentations for the kids. Toward the end of his career, Tango was trained to “recall” which is when a dog is sent to bite a suspect and then is given the command to not bite and return to his handler immediately. Apparently, this is quite the feat for a police dog, especially one who is older, as Tango was when he learned how to recall. Tango retired in June of 2009 at the age of 8 due to arthritis in his legs. Since then, his job has been to patrol his yard and keep all other animals out. He decided on his new job himself and he does an excellent job! Like most police dogs, he loves tennis balls and almost always is carrying one around. He also likes to “herd” his toys or sticks or whatever else he can find to herd. He has had many run-ins in the yard with various animals, the most exotic being a heron, which is a huge bird. Luckily, the bird was okay and Tango felt bad for trying to herd it. He is terrified of loud noises, i.e., gunshots, thunder, and fireworks and sometimes needs to be medicated due to his anxiety. I believe he has PTSD. Also, he doesn’t like to ride in cars and must be on someone’s lap when riding in a car which is difficult when it’s just Tango and the driver in the car. But overall, Tango is enjoying his retirement and is still going strong, although he does have some pain in his legs from arthritis, and he’s hard of hearing now and hears higher pitched noises better than lower pitch noises. He’s a big baby who loves belly rubs, being brushed, and lounging in the sun in his backyard.