Anchorage's top police dog is finished sniffing out suspects, barking at burglars and creeping through crawl spaces looking for criminals.
Today, Ricco, a 10-year-old Belgian Malinois, becomes a regular dog, free to enjoy his favorite activities: chasing salmon, rolling in bear scat and begging at the dinner table.
Ricco was given oversized teddy bears at his party this week to mark his retirement after nine years on the job, during which he is credited with catching more than 150 suspects, including murderers, rapists and bank robbers. In 1998, he tracked down Delano Hall, who had murdered cab driver Dean Marsh and then led police on a chase across the city. Hall was later convicted.
"He's real healthy still," said his handler, Sgt. Tony Henry. "He's worked hard for his years, and we're just going to let him retire."
Ricco is going out on top, Henry said. He is one of the department's longest-serving canines, the mascot of the nonprofit Dollars for Dogs, which raises money for the K-9 unit, and a favorite in the halls of the department.
At his retirement party Thursday, Ricco sprinted into the crowded room with Henry's badge hanging from his collar. The bone-shaped doughnuts didn't interest him: He rushed to three oversized teddy bears, gently biting into one and dragging it to the floor, his awkwardly long tail swaying back and forth. Police laughed and clapped, "Yay! Ricco!"
When Jodi, the Fire Department's 3-year-old accelerant-detecting black Lab who was on hand, snatched the bear and tried to mangle it with violent shakes, Ricco stood by and watched.
Ricco, a SWAT team dog who can turn on the ferocity in a beat, is, it seems, actually a teddy bear himself.
"He loves stuffed animals," Henry explained as he patted the 74-pound canine. "He doesn't tear them up. He uses them as pillows."
This is partly why Ricco has been such a good police dog. The key is a perfect combination of sociability, even-temperament, courage and willingness to please the handler, Henry said.
This means Ricco knows the difference between a fleeing criminal and a child running and playing in a park. He knows the difference between a suspect fighting him and an elderly woman who once collapsed on him.
With Ricco's retirement, Anchorage police have eight canines and handlers. The dogs' duties include collecting evidence, searching buildings, tracking suspects and locating missing people. All are trained in the "bark and detain" method, which means they bite only when the suspect tries to get away.
Henry said the Police Department's dogs are handpicked from specialty kennels, which usually import them from Europe. Ricco was born in the Czech Republic and received his initial training in California at the Alderhorst International kennel that sells to law enforcement agencies, he said.
Since 9/11, it has been harder to acquire good dogs because of a worldwide demand for them, Henry said. Dollars for Dogs paid $3,500 for Ricco. Police dogs now run about $8,000, according to the price list from Alderhorst.
Ricco has raised more money for Dollars for Dogs than all of the other dogs combined, said Marshall Johnson, secretary and treasurer of the organization: "He's our mascot, an absolute favorite and crowd pleaser."
Which is why Henry is keeping Ricco, who will spend his retirement at Henry's Hillside home with Henry and his wife, Tara.
"He's her baby," Tony Henry said.
Retirement will still mean running two to three miles a day on his treadmill at the Henry house. (Ricco was long ago trained to exercise indoors.) But it will also mean more runs in Kincaid Park, boat rides down in Kenai and plenty of hiking, Tara Henry said.
"I might even let him sleep in my bed when Tony's away," she said. "Don't tell Tony that, though."
Daily News reporter Megan Holland can be reached at mrholland@adn.com.
