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Officer Eichman & K9 Gus

In a dark world, man found an unlikely friend. Whether wolves saw some glimmer of great things to come in the eyes of our ancestors, or simply smelled grilled bones, they decided people were worth sticking by.

Eons later, most of the wolves’ ancestors enjoy sinecures. A pug or a French bulldog is asked to do no more than exist, which is the extent of its abilities anyway. Some dogs help our blind friends navigate their surroundings. Still others retrieve our pheasants and quail for us. But the greatest dogs of all serve at the sides of their masters in uniform – dogs like K9 Gus. 

Half German Shepherd and half Belgian Malinois, Gus resembles the dire wolves he descended from. His fur is black as ink, and his cocoa-colored eyes burn with enthusiasm for any challenge before him. Hailing from a long line of military and police dogs, centuries of dutifulness are bred into Gus’s bones. He is a cop dog in full, and the 14th to serve Eden Prairie.

I was unable to interview Gus, because he is a dog and doesn’t speak English. Instead I was able to speak with Gus’s partner, Officer Nathan Eichman of the Eden Prairie Police Department. While I didn’t ask the Officer about his ancestorage, that he has trained in at least some capacity to become a cop since he was a teenager suggests that he, like Gus, was born to serve.

“I joined the Boy Scouts of America’s Police Explorers program when I was 14 years old,” said Officer Eichman. “It was a program that let kids interested in becoming cops work with local law enforcement agencies. One of my mentors back then, Sergeant Kevin Rofidal, has only just recently retired as a police officer with the Edina Police Department. His example and his relationship with K9 Kodiak inspired me to become a handler myself one day. From there I assisted Sergeant Scott Mittelstadt of the EPPD by serving as a ‘decoy’ for his partner K9 Riggs – basically the guy in the padded suit that the dog practiced his biting on.

“There are many different types of bite suits and bite sleeves,” continued Officer Eichman. “Unfortunately, a thinner suit is always better, because it is more realistic and therefore more educational for the dog. When you put on a bite suit, you have to adopt a mindset that you’re going to get bruised that day, especially if you’re working with a stronger dog. There isn’t a decoy or handler out there who hasn’t spilled at least a little blood for training.”

Young Officer Eichman continued letting dogs whet their chomps on his poor arms and legs for several more years. Far from a glutton for punishment, he was enthralled at the prospect of one day having a K9 partner of his own. After doing everything one needs to become a cop, a puppy in Slovakia was handpicked just for him. This was Gus, who little could have known he was departing Sekčovská for Eden Prairie. 

Gus was still “green” on arrival – completely untrained, and about as useless during a law enforcement scenario as an average magazine writer would be. But three months of extensive tutelage alongside his new partner in America would refine Gus into a true dog of the law.

“When we first met, he was a ball of energy – wait, that’s not giving Gus enough credit. He was an untamed ball of energy, just pure craziness. I never would have thought we’d be able to get to the position we’re at today. 

“We trained Gus as a dual-purpose K9. As a detector dog, he’s able to alert to a wide range of narcotics as well as human odor. And as an apprehension dog, he’s able to apprehend a suspect whenever he’s instructed to do so. 

“Gus has been imprinted with the scents of cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, MDMA, and any combination of those drugs. Because of how the times are changing, we don’t bother training a dog to sense marijuana anymore – plus, the human nose can pick up that scent easily enough anyway. When Gus smells a narcotic, he doesn’t bark. His body language alone is enough to convey that information to me.” 

When Gus tracks down a person, his reaction becomes a little less subtle. His impassioned barking not only lets his cop friends know that the suspect is nearby; it also alerts the suspect that they are found, and that they had better feel pretty confident on their feet if they’re going to attempt outrunning what is effectively a battering ram full of fangs.

“Last June was our third anniversary on the road,” said Officer Eichman. “Gus hasn’t had enough time to show everything that he’s capable of yet, but he still impresses me every day. On his first day on the job, Gus alerted me to a small amount of methamphetamine hidden under a driver’s seat while he was still outside of the vehicle. Sometimes just the sight of Gus is enough to persuade drivers to confess to possessing narcotics up front. There have been plenty of times when Gus’s barking alone has convinced suspects to come out peacefully.

“Gus didn’t have to apprehend a suspect until after our first year working together. He was deployed following a long pursuit into Chaska, and only after the driver had refused repeated K9 warnings. Gus demonstrated his value as a nonlethal tool that day – one who can apprehend a suspect while minimizing the risk of serious injury to both them and the arresting officer. Having a partner who has my back like that is great comfort while I’m out on the road.”

Gus is an incredibly perceptive creature. If his friend the Officer were to throw a quarter deep into the woods, Gus would be pointing to it nearly as quickly as he could sprint to the spot where it landed. Officer Eichman proudly recounts a time when Gus ran up to the front door because he sensed a turtle crawling across the lawn. Yet while he can’t very well turn off his nose and ears, Gus does become an affable family dog the moment he’s off duty.

“Gus and I are together around the clock,” said Officer Eichman, “and he knows that the second his equipment comes off, it’s time to be a pet again. When my two kids play with him, they treat him no differently than they would any other dog. My daughter even dresses him up in blankets until he looks like the Big Bad Wolf doing his impression of Grandma.”

The world is no longer dark, and yet man and dog still press onward together. The confidence we gain and the use we find in one another’s company will never diminish. A dog like Gus doesn’t comprehend just how much good he does for the community, although he does sense with every fiber of his being that he is doing good in the eyes of his master. And what is good in the eyes of Officer Eichman is splendid indeed: a safer, sounder city of Eden Prairie.

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