Loveland – Deputy Dave Feyen’s partner recently retired and moved in with him and his family. Feyen’s new partner has also moved in.
But the two don’t like each other at the moment and have to be kept separate. You might say the potentially volatile situation is going to the dogs.
Feyen is a deputy with the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office Canine Team.
The two partners in question are Nikolai, the retiree, an 11- year-old German shepherd; and Arco, the new dog in town, a 17-month-old Belgian Malinois.
Nikolai, who retired last month, is still trying to figure out what retirement is all about.
“It’s a big adjustment for him,” Feyen said.
Nikolai is up to 75 pounds from his working weight of 68. He spends most of his time chasing cows on Feyen’s 5-acre property in the Loveland area. He also likes splashing in the water of the irrigation ditch, Feyen said.
But make no mistake, if needed, Feyen would give the command and Nikolai would snap into old form.
Just ask Mike Murray, a meter reader for Xcel, who jumped out of his truck one day on Feyen’s property.
“I was like a perpetrator” to Nikolai, Murray said. “He showed his teeth and his hair stood up.”
Murray backed off, got back in his truck and leaned on his horn to get help from Dave’s wife, Christine Feyen.
“It was scary,” Murray recalled.
During Nikolai’s 10 years in service – all partnered with Feyen – the dog tackled assignments with “methodical” precision, the deputy said.
“He’s really good at finding narcotics,” Feyen said.
In 2005, Larimer County’s four dogs responded to 1,500 service calls and sniffed out more than $250,000 in drugs, Feyen said.
Also in 2005, Nikolai took second place at a police dog competition in Boulder.
When the Sheriff’s Office bought Nikolai, it paid $3,500 for the dog. Now, police dogs can fetch as much as $6,000 to $13,000, Feyen said.
Arco is more easily distracted than Nikolai, Feyen said, but that could change as the Malinois matures.
“He tends to lose attention, I have to get him back on track,” Feyen said of his young partner.
Another Larimer County dog retired at the same time as Nikolai. Rico, a Belgian Malinois, served for six years and retired to his former partner’s home. Juno, a 20-month-old Malinois, will step in for Rico.
Most police dogs tend to retire to their partners’ homes. Their replacements usually live there too.
Feyen said he plans to start integrating Nikolai and Arco, taking them for walks with both dogs muzzled.
Meanwhile, Nikolai will work on his retirement.
“We’ve got to keep him busy or he gets bored and he gets destructive,” Feyen said. “But I think he’ll do just fine retired.”
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-820-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
