Police Service Dog (PSD) Eli has an impressive record and is nearing retirement after almost a decade.
The German Shepherd is 12-years-old, and is an anomaly among PSDs. Dogs typically retire at around 7-years-old, according to the RCMP.
As he may soon enjoy his senior years with more naps and taking it easy, the police force is looking back at some of his most impactful moments on the job.
Eli and his handler Cpl. Jarrod Trickett are based at the Terrace Detachment. The pair track a vast northern region of BC from the coast of Haida Gwaii to the Terrace area and many points north, south and east.
“It’s not just Eli’s length of service, age or good looks that set this exceptional animal apart,” the RCMP said. “It’s his drive, his temperament and performance over the years that has earned Eli a special place among the fabled police dogs of the RCMP.”
Eli and Trickett have been involved in many searches over the years that involved trudging through waist-deep snow, brush and bramble. They recall one case where the pair were searching for a man who got lost after his truck broke down near Hazelton.
When they found him, the man was so cold and disoriented that he thought he was in Vancouver’s Stanley Park searching for his family.
According to Trickett, if the man had been found just an hour or two later, the outcome likely would have been fatal.
“The dogged—pun intended—determination of Eli and his handler has repeated many times over the last 10 years,” remarked the RCMP.
One of their more dangerous calls took place on a cold December night. Police were called to a complaint at an apartment where a group of men were threatening people with machetes and knives. Three got away, but Eli tracked one suspect into a forest.
“Eli carefully made his way to a particular tree, nosing around the opposite side where the suspect laid hidden. I gave Eli an order to engage but then I pulled him back dragging him from hidden cover,” said Trickett
Fortunately, the handler’s backup officer saw the suspect reaching for a knife and looking like he was about to use it.
“We finally got the suspect under control and arrested him,” says Cpl. Trickett, adding that he was relieved they didn’t become victims that night.
The night didn’t end there—a second suspect was still out there, and the team started tracking him down, taking them into the deep wilderness and to the edge of a cliff.
“Dogs have no depth perception so Eli was in danger of going off the cliff along with this handler,” explained the RCMP.
Cpl. Trickett had already fallen several times as they scrambled through the bush, busting up his shin so badly that days later he ended up with a bad infection.
“If we had gone over, we would have been dead. I really thought we were done that night,” recalls Cpl. Trickett.
Trickett credits a few different things to how Eli has been able to serve as long as he has, including the colder climate, as heat is hard on dogs, and his ability to relax and switch off after work.
The other thing Cpl. Trickett doesn’t do is give Eli human food. So, it was no surprise that Eli, during an investigation and in the midst of a dynamic entry into a house full of drugs and guns, that the dog took his chance to golp down a food item that was out. Unfortunately, the tasty snack was suspected to contain drugs.
Eli became ill, but managed to recover after a few months off the job and returned as if nothing happened.
After a very colourful career, the handler is struggling to pick a retirement date for his partner.
“I haven’t picked the last day yet. I’m struggling with that. He’s been a part of my identity for a very long time,” he said. “There’s no manual out there to tell us when.”
Trickett had only one other dog in his 20-year career as a handler—Rook, who sadly passed away in his arms during a training session at the age of nine.
Heart-stricken, it was some time before Trickett could accept another police dog, but sometimes “serendipity intervenes in our best laid plans.”
In fact, the day Eli got sent back to the kennels was the day that Rook died.
Eli was a hard dog to handle, but one of the trainers knew he’d be a perfect fit for Cpl. Trickett, and tucked him away until the day the corporal was ready to take another dog.
“He’s a big, goofy bucket head and still is to this day. I’ve had him in schools, daycares and the only concern I have had is if he flails his big head around and accidentally knocks over a toddler,” says Trickett.
Eli can distinguish between the sound made by the soles of Cpl. Trickett’s shoes—the thump of boots on the gravel driveway mean work, running shoes mean down time.
“He can be snoring away on the grass soaking up the sun but if he hears me with my boots on the gravel, he knows it's time to work. He can determine the difference instantly,” added Trickett.
Whenever Eli’s last day is, he’ll be spending his retirement at home with the family, where he’ll get to spend more time with his best friend—Trickett’s five-year-old son.
The force is wishing Eli a happy and relaxing retirement “full of snuggles and walks with the Trickett family.”
