Every dog can bite, but to be a successful canine handler with the Guelph Police Service, you must teach them how to track. That was the advice given to Const. Greg MacArthur when he was paired up with police service dog General in 2012.
Eight years later, General is retiring and will will continue to live with MacArthur full time.
Although General has lived with MacArthur and his family for eight years, he is now being transitioned into more of a house dog in retirement.
“He doesn’t know he’s not allowed to jump on the counters and doesn’t know he’s not allowed to grab food that doesn’t belong to him. That’s the biggest thing — the food — but we’ll get through it. Teaching an old dog new tricks is possible,” MacArthur told GuelphToday on Thursday.
“He’ll be able to lie around and relax, maybe a few extra treats will put a little extra meat on his bones,” added MacArthur.
Sgt. Cliff Russell gave MacArthur the advice about focusing General’s training to tracking and on Thursday told the Guelph Police Services Board that the partners did just that.
“This dynamic duo here learned that craft and perfected that craft,” said Russell. “It doesn’t come without a cost — it comes with dedication.”
Russel noted an incident where MacArthur and General were tracking a suspect who was wanted on a Canada-wide warrant.
“Over two hours through the bush, very dangerous — an apprehension and arrest at the end, with no bite,” said Russell.
In another incident, the pair tracked two suspects through the city, wanted in connection with a stolen vehicle and stolen property.
“Both apprehended successfully — no bites. An ultimate feat if you know anything about dogs and about tracking,” said MacArthur.
The partners were teamed up after General was brought to Canada from Germany and spent the first 14 months of his life training without MacArthur. When they were first paired up, MacArthur said there was an immediate bond between the two.
“We went on a four-month course together and were literally with each other 24/7. He comes home with me, he goes to work with me,” said MacArthur. “I am literally with him more than I am with my family, so we got pretty tight pretty quickly.”
General was trained as a patrol dog and specialized in tracking human scent. That meant not only tracking suspects, but also missing children and people with dementia.
He was also trained to detect firearms and narcotics.
“That’s what we used his big nose for,” said MacArthur.
While General is retiring, MacArthur recently moved on to a new role with the Woodstock Police Service. For the first time in years he is not partnered with a police dog.
That is also creating a challenge at home.
“Now he’s not coming to work with me, which has been his life for the last eight years,” said MacArthur. “When I go to work for my 12-hour shift, he’s now home with my wife.”
After 30 years in many roles in the Guelph Police Service, Sgt. Ross Keller was also celebrated as a recent retiree by the Police Services Boad on Thursday.
Keller joined the service in 1990, recalled Insp. Scott Green.
“I distinctly remember when Ross started, there was a bunch of guys who started all together — we had the Heller, Keller and Weller group,” said Green.
Keller spent a number of years in uniform and as part of Traffic Services before being promoted to sergeant and then spending five years as a training officer.
“That’s one thing about Ross, he was a stickler for details and making sure everybody was where they needed to be,” said Green.
After that, Keller moved on to work as the school liaison officer.
“Probably those were the years that Ross got to be more well known in the community, he was very well known in the schools,” said Green.
He said Keller was involved in many community initiatives, including the Special Olympics, McHappy Day, Tim Hortons Camp Day, to name a few.
“More so than anything, Ross is someone who cares,” said Green.
The officers and police service dog were thanked for their service at Thursday’s meeting by Chief Gord Cobey and Police Services Board Chair Don Drone and each received a parting gift.
