Deputy Ian Carver and K9 Stazzo along with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department Special Enforcement Detail

As has been the unfortunate case for many SSD K9 handlers this year, I now have had to retire my partner, Stazzo. I was lucky enough to work with Stazzo for almost a year and a half, however, late last year Stazzo suffered a serious injury to one of his legs during a training scenario. The leg was surgically repaired, and after several weeks off, Stazzo returned to duty. Stazzo was back to catching bad guys, in fact, the beginning of 2006 saw him make 5 apprehensions in 8 working days.

Unfortunately, Stazzo had aggravated the rear leg injury in late December and then, in January 2006, Stazzo injured a front leg after finding another suspect in Citrus Heights. Although this injury was not severe, it was going to take us out of the game for an extended period of time. In the best interest of Stazzo’s well being and to better benefit patrol, it was decided this would be the end of his career. I hated to do it, but I knew it was for the best in the long run. Stazzo was only seven years old and could easily have worked another year, however, due to his injuries, I knew we were working on borrowed time.

Stazzo was originally handled for four years by Tim Albright, now a sergeant in Elk Grove. Sgt. Albright was extremely successful with Stazzo and amassed a loyal group of patrol personnel who would gladly wait for Stazzo to arrive and do his thing. Sgt. Albright exposed Stazzo to a little of everything and created an extremely strong working dog. When it came time for me to take the leash, I quietly hoped I could keep up with Stazzo. Half the time, I felt he could probably do the job fine without me. “The Stazzo” was an old pro and I was a rookie canine handler.  I can only imagine how many times he probably laughed at my stupid mistakes or wanted to yell at me, “Stop giving me that blank stare-he’s in here, bonehead.”

It took us some time to figure each other out, but in the end we became quite the team. There were those days Stazzo was picture perfect, and other days when I thought of doing bad things to him. At the end of it all, I had to remind myself, he was just a dog….although sometimes with his own agenda. Regardless, I came to trust him and have faith in him whenever I got him out of the car. If I got him into the scent of a bad guy, he would take me to him, one way or another. Stazzo has found suspects hiding in every imaginable place, which made me a believer of the phrase “always trust your dog”. Stazzo was without a doubt the craftiest dog I have ever seen. Ask any handler or decoy who has seen Stazzo work, and they will agree-if there’s a will, Stazzo would find the way.

Stazzo’s career has been quite impressive. I don’t have exact figures, but Stazzo racked up countless number of apprehensions. Stazzo was the master of the runaway apprehension. If a vehicle pursuit ended and the bad guy wanted to run, Stazzo was going to make sure the run was a short one. For a stout little dog, Stazzo was fast and sneaky with his black coat blending into the darkness. Stazzo has apprehended countless car thieves, burglars, robbers, drug dealers, and homicide suspects. I still recall my first apprehension with him as though it were yesterday.

Stazzo never backed down from a tough situation or a fight, in fact, he was once run over while apprehending a bad guy who left his car in drive and ran in front of it as Stazzo caught him. Even though the two were pinned under a car, Stazzo never even thought of letting the suspect go. The stories are endless and I could go on for days. While Stazzo was tough as nails in a work environment, he could turn that switch off and be a goofy, friendly dog the next minute trying to get belly rubs out of cops and kids.

Every time I got out of the car, Stazzo watched my every move until I got back in the driver’s seat. I knew he “had my back” and was waiting for my signal if I needed him. I’ll never know if Stazzo saved the life of Sgt. Albright or I somewhere during his career, but I’d like to think we both probably owe him a couple big favors. I’d hate to think of the bad things that could have happened with some of the suspects we have found, had Stazzo not been there.

Although Stazzo was horrible in the car with his incessant high pitched whining, I will miss having him back there. My new partner will have some large paws to fill and high expectations to meet. For the rest of his dog days, Stazzo will be living the good life of retirement, laying in the sun and running around down by the river. I’ll miss Mr. ‘Zo, but he’s earned his time off. I am sure if he could, Stazzo would thank all of the human partners he’s worked with for all the chases, Code 3 runs, apprehensions, and good times.

It’s been a blast, Stazzo. You’ve been a great partner. Thanks for everything.