K9 Hiro retires from Sheriff's Office

All dogs go to heaven, but not all dogs go into retirement.

K9 Hiro is one of the lucky ones. He retired last week from the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, after nearly eight years of service. In dog years, he's 68 years old.

Deputy Kevin Skau chose Hiro, a Belgian Malinois, in 2009, out of a group of nearly 20 other dogs.

“His drive was absolutely relentless,” Skau said. “He has extremely high energy, but also a stable temperament.… In this climate in law enforcement, having a dog that is stable and can do demos with kids and also be capable of apprehending the bad guy and doing the work is important.”

For several months, Hiro and Skau trained together for 40 hours a week. In February 2010, they were put to work.

Hiro worked on a team of five K9s for the Sheriff's Office, and was double-certified for apprehension work and narcotics detection. He was deployed 1,278 times to do such things as tracking and conducting area searches, and narcotics “sniffs.” He located 102 subjects, including criminal suspects and missing persons. He was recognized for his efforts during the National Police Canine Association (NCPA) Narcotic Detection Trials, and in November 2016, when he and Skau were both named employee of the month for the Sheriff’s Office.

After all that, Hiro retired, just as he was starting to show a few signs of slowing down. Some agencies will work dogs for 10 or 11 years, Skau said, but the Sarasota Sheriff’s Office wants their dogs to have a healthy, enjoyable retirement.

Hiro lives with the Skau family, oversees the house with the family’s other dogs and goes for runs with Skau’s daughter.

“He likes to run around in the back yard, and carries a tire in his mouth all the time,” Skau said “Post-Hurricane Irma here, our yard is pretty flooded, so he likes to play around in the mud puddle with his tire.”

Skau began training with a new dog, a Dutch shepherd, in July, and will continue his work with the K9 unit while Hiro relaxes at home — with his tire.