Max
Max
Law Enforcement Agency: New Castle County Police Department
Breed: German Shepherd Dog (Kiev, Ukraine)
Handler: S/Cpl. Terrence O'Connor
Birth/Death: 1992-Dec. 28, 2002
Years of active service: 1993-1996
Commendations: Max attended several triathlons at the North American Police work Dog Association.
Special Training/Unit: Max was initially handled by Cpl. Mark Sweetman where he received his initial training in Patrol work and Narcotic Detection. Max was given to me as my first dog and I completed an additional 13 weeks of training with him. We worked for several years on the street.
Max was quite a stubborn guy. He was nicknamed "butt head" due to his stubbornness, but I still would not have wanted him any other way. Max loved toys and loved the game of criminal apprehension. One day, Max and I were dispatched to a physical therapy business along Miller Rd, reference a burglary in progress. When we got there, the Wilmington Police Officers advised they believed the burglar was still inside. I made my required announcements and deployed max into the building to find the suspect. Several minutes later I hear this ruckus and max growling on the second floor. Thinking he found and has the "bad guy", I promptly go to him. What I found was Max batting around and biting a physical therapy ball about twice his size. He was just having a blast and so were the WPD officers when they saw this act. Fortunately the perp was not there, but that didn't stop the ribbing I got for quite a long time. My proudest moment with max was really our first day together after training. He tracked and located two missing 10 yr old boys. I loved him and after all these years still miss him.