Axel is in Doggy Heaven.

Axel

Age 9, ~1999 - March 27, 2008

My Partner, My Protector, My Best Friend

A happy team celebrating their Schutzhund 3.

It seems like another lifetime ago when we met. They called you "Hank". You were a big, clumsly young Malinois, fawn colored with a totally black head. You weren't pretty by any stretch of the imagination...truly the ugly duckling. In only a few short months, you became the most handsome dog I have ever laid eyes on...the beautiful swan.

First things first...change your name to Axel...a cool name, maybe you were named after a famous rock star. That was the rumor around the station anyway. When we stopped at the rest stop on the way home, I called you Axel for the first time and you wagged your tail so hard your whole body wagged. You liked it. Then we had to change those Dutch commands. I can't remember six different languages, so you learned German just like your new "Brothers" and "Sister".

After we got to know each other for a few days, we started training. I always said you weren't the brightest bulb in the pack. But, when you "got it", whatever "it" happened to be, you were awesome. You were a lesson in patience, but worth every bit of effort, and then some. We earned our Bh after about a year. A few months later, you became a working police dog. That didn't make your "brother" and predecessor, Falco, happy because it meant he stayed home. You LOVED going to work, riding around in the car with Mom, and barking at people. You especially loved searching buildings. You had a sense of humor and lived to make people laugh. How many of our co-workers nearly fell over laughing when they would round a corner to find you, the "serious" police dog, in a play bow waiting for me.

It was a few months before you actually got to do anything. It was a "slow" winter when you joined the force. It wasn't long, though, until you caused your first burglar to surrender. Did you know that guy was armed with a screw driver? He told the arresting officer he planned to stab a cop with it. Your mere presence kept all the human officers safe. That bad guy wasn't messing with the biggest police dog he had ever seen. That was the first of many arrests for you. You were responsible for more arrests than both of your predecessors combined. Not that they weren't great dogs, it's just about timing. Then there was the time we helped a neighboring Department arrest two armed robbery suspects. One ran to perimeter officers rather than meet you. The other laid prone and begged me not to let you bite him. That Chief was so happy. He asked if your name was "like Axel Foley". I replied, "no, like Axl Rose"...all he could say was, "that's cool..."

The time between calls we used to make a little fun of our own. I'll never forget when we stopped at a red light, you would come front and look at me that way you did. Then we would start boxing. It helped to make the long days go more quickly.

I'll never forget the seminar in VA. You got to stay in the hotel with me. We called it Carol and Axel's Excellent Adventure. What a great boy you were! We got to train with that really nice man who fed you food off the track. You got to work with him a few times after that. It's pretty cool when a world famous trainer says, "Wow! He's a tough dog. He's nice."

We earned our Schutzhund 1, 2, and 3. You were my first SchH 3 dog. The day we earned each of those titles were some of the happiest moments of my life. Then we headed to the Nationals for our police title. Tracking wasn't your thing and it showed. Then you blew me away in obedience and protection. We looked good out there together--me in uniform with the most handsome Malinois ever.

Not long after, those people took you off the street. It wasn't you, Pal...it was because of me. They wanted to make me unhappy and they did. But it also made you unhappy, very unhappy. You weren't ready to retire. Not long after you got pretty sick. You managed to pull off a DPO routine and win the trial, but you weren't yourself. You never really recovered from that, I don't believe. After that, your flawless grip wasn't flawless anymore. You just couldn't hold on to the sleeve the way you once did.

Then I got sick. We lost so much time while I dealt with cancer. But your Dad loved you too. You and he bonded so much during that time. When it finally looked like I could soon spend time with you, I could tell you weren't feeling well. You weren't your devlish self, looking to get in trouble, just to make me laugh. In only a few days, it was obvious that something was really wrong. The Dr said surgery might give you a few more months, but I couldn't do that to my big, tough, and oh so handsome boy who kept me safe more times than even I know. I had to let you go. It was the right thing to do. I miss you as much today as I did the day I held you as you took your last breath.

I hope you are watching. If you are, you know that a new boy came to live with us a few weeks after we said goodbye to you. He came from that nice man who fed you food on the track. I call this boy "Ami" which means "friend". It's a tribute to you. Whenever someone asks about his name, because it is unusual, I tell them about you, my Sweet, Sweet Axel, my Friend. He's a nice boy, but he'll never replace you.