Fall of 1998 I was on patrol on Sicard Hollow Road near Lake Purdy when I accidently ran up on a poaching incident. I drove up on a fella hiding in the ditch, waiting for his buddy to pick him up. I slammed on the brakes and bailed..he took off in the dark...I gave chase but lost him pretty quick. I was pizzed, bad pizzed. I hate letting a near caught poacher get clean away. I vowed it would not continue to happen......

I got on the internet and researched GW K-9 dogs, I called every state around us and talked to their Chief, or head K-9 trainers. I called a buddy in La, ex La GW and current K-9 handler for a local PD. He had one of the premier Belgian Malinois K-9 dogs in the country...and he had puppies on the way...

July 1999 I spent a week in Mandeville La playing with puppies, finally picked a female. I went back to get her at seven weeks of age. Quickly named her Taz, because she was one more Tasmanian Devil when she was young. I owned NO shirts that wern't torn..usually up around the shoulder.

I immediately started obedience training...she was a fast learner and you didn't have to tell her anything twice. She started riding with me that deer season, along with new GW Chris Lewis. Taz spent most of the riding time sneaking up on Chris and face licking him.

In Jan Chris and I answered a poaching complaint near Shelby, in south Shelby Co. As we approached the poachers vehicle on foot we surprised three of them and they ran. I hollered "State Police, stop or I'll send the dog"...Taz was raising sand, high pitch yelping to get after them. The sound of running stopped and a voice came out of the dark..."don't send the dog, we give up"...haha first catch for her. Chris quit giving her a hard time.....she was 6 months old.

Fred, glad to see that you stuck around and are still telling stories after yesterday's thread turned south.

I took her to La for training several times and to NC twice. NC has a K-9 unit per district, big pretty German Shepherds. Great guys and ever better training

I worked every day, if it was only for ten minutes on Tazs training. She excelled at tracking, human and deer. Finding evidence thrown out of a car. Drugs, State certified on all drugs. Handler(me) protection...my wife couldn't hit me in front of her!!! Criminal apprehension...chasing down and bite holding a bad guy. She LOVED to bite. Hardest part of bite training is to train em to NOT BITE on command, even if they are close and already committed. Two tries and Taz had it down....

Me and her in better times....


Taz and friend watching TV....

good story! looking forward to more of them...

Keep em coming Troy I love these stories.

This is the kind of stuff I love, a working man and his working dog.

Funny story first about her...

Taz did not allow any loud talking, or anything even remotely resembling a fight at the house. Wife wanted to pick a fight, she had to lock Taz out back first..usually giving me fair warning. LOL...

One day wife was in one of those start a fight, any fight, moods. She forgot to put Taz out....(error). Wife went into the bathroom and sat on pot to pee, still yapping at my butt. I was standing in the bedroom with Taz, who was watching INTENTLY to us. I told Taz I'd heard enough and to snatch momma off the pot..no dog commands, just plain English. Taz looked at wife, looked at me and SNATCHED momma by her jean bottoms all of the way out of the bathroom....butt hit the carpet in the bedroom.

I could hardly run for fits of laughter, Taz was right beside me as we hit the door, jumped in the truck and left for a couple of hours. LOL Damn, that was funny to most everyone concerned..."most"...haha

Cool pic of Taz and the spike.

I was patrolling one summer day just out of Bessemer and found several cars parked in a place that accesses a creek. Fishermen, several of them. I got Taz out, put on her tracking lead and told her to go find. We hit a trail and went prolly 400 yards down it before hearing voices. I reigned Taz in to heel and walked forward with Taz on a short 6' leash.

There were , I think, seven black males aging from maybe 18-25 in various stages of fishing. First guy saw us and everybody stopped. One guy was squatting at the edge of the water with his back to us, maybe ten feet away. Suddenly he spun and dove at my legs....(error again) and met Taz half way to me. She launched on her own without command to protect me. The leaper nose dived, and rolled into the creek trying to get away from those teeth. NOBODY else moved....

I'm pretty sure that without Taz, and her move I would of been in trouble and had to use other methods to defend myself.

I heeled Taz back and asked who had a fishing license? Everybody immediately admitted that they didn't have a license and badly needed a ticket. Does that dog bite? haha, got asked that a LOT. my answer was "yes, like a chain saw"....

Got everyone wrote up, including bright boy, and left....Taz got a steak that night for supper...

You remember the guy that lived on 119 in the red brick house about 2 houses down from where you turn to go over the Lake Purdy bridge? He hated that damn dog

Taz was very protective of me. You could not get right up on me or raise your voice, or esp raise your arm near me. She didn't allow it and told em so.

When she was very young I used to take her to Eastlake Park and walk her on a 50' lead. I let everyone and anyone who wanted to pet her do so. I wanted a very social, non threatened, dog to work with. I hate police K-9 dogs that froth and bite the window when you walk by. Anyone could of gotten in my truck and stole it with her sitting there, she was not vehicle protection trained, nor did she have instinctive aggressive behaviors.

He favorite thing to do was to go give talks to civic groups, churches, boy scouts, you name it. Folks would call to see if I could come give a talk...and oh by the way...BRING TAZ.




they might not know my name but they sure knew hers....

my favorite thing to do with her was to introduce her as a bad bite dog, then tell her to get em and let her go. She would bee line for the first kid and lick em to death. She absolutely loved people, esp kids. If there was a small baby present we were done, she would sit by the baby and watch it the whole time I talked.

You remember the guy that lived by the commissary on Old Overton that liked to poach in LP? He hated that damn dog

he sure did....

lots of folks hated that dog, with good reason too. She caught em.

I'll tell that story now....

I was working a poaching complaint off Overton Road, back in some old mining areas, across the river from Liberty Park. As Taz and I eased along I heard a four wheeler coming. I knew they would run when they saw me.....

I grabbed Taz and sat her in the middle of the small road, just over a hill. The four wheeler driver saw Taz and stopped. trying to figure out what she was doing sitting there. Moron decided to shoot her, I said that might be a very bad idea as I stepped out right at them. No time to run...caught.

Great stories

I imagine that road between sicard hollow and 119 when it was open back in the day would have been a honey hole to catch DA's.

I found a truck parked off Pocahontas Rd one day, corn in the back, figgered he was baiting. I got Taz out, hooked up her tracking harness and told her to find. She smelled the door, put her head down and took off tracking.

We went maybe 70 yards and met a fella coming out of the woods to us. I checked his license and permit and questioned him. Gun was still loaded. Said he was hunting in a climber and had left it..and there was NO corn around there. I told him to wait at the truck and put Taz back on the track. We went a good ways, prolly 4-500 yards , straight to his climber hooked to the tree and 50# of corn scattered around it.

Hmmmm, "I" hadn't seen him at the corn. BUT Taz said he was at the corn....I ticketed him and went to the courthouse to turn the ticket in. I told the Judge what I had done and he said we'll see in court. I showed up with all her tracking records. Every track she had ever run. Fella had a lawyer, and fought it. Judge said Taz said he was at the corn and was guilty. He had confidence in the dog.

My Capt had a fit and said I'd never get a conviction on that case but he had to eat those words. I had carried Taz to meet every Judge and DA in Jefferson Co early on and introduced her. They were impressed with her records, and documentation.

I was checking fishing licenses at Lake Purdy one day, right at the concrete bridge. There were several black males fishing off a small narrow ledge. I stopped and sat/stay Taz maybe 30 feet away. A LOT of folks are scared of dogs and I respected that and kept her back when possible.

I walked up to them and started checking licenses...nobody had one. I wrote up the first guy, then the second. I was having to get pretty close to them on the narrow ledge, closer than I'd normally get, for sure without Taz.

Second guy never says a word. Jawbone knows the type...just stood there and then started reading the ticket word by word. The more he read the madder, and louder, he got. When he got to the MFers and raised his arm up (error) Taz had enough and flew between us and growled. Man was in mid word(muther-) and stpped. "Does that dog bite?" he asked. "like a chainsaw" I replied..and you are one arm raise away from finding out how bad....

He said, "I'll just go home". "Good idea" I said,"because you haven't gotten dog bit YET....."

he left, we left, everyone was NOT happy.

I'm far from anti law enforcement but that seems a little far fetched. Yes I do believe the guy was hunting over corn but doesn't seem right if you have no evidence except a track from a dog. Not trying to start a commotion but I would have probably appealed that one if I was that guy.

Was that the one that made ladder stands out of pvc pipe?