100th MWD Det. says farewell to military working dog

The life of “Dark,” a dual purpose patrol and drug detector dog with the 100th Military Working Dog Detachment, 92nd Military Police Company, was honored at a memorial service held at Daenner Kaserne Chapel March 2.

Dark died of complications from cancer Feb. 9.

During his five-year-career, Dark was certified with six different handlers and conducted countless hours of garrison policing operations and drug detection missions in support of maintaining installation good order and discipline.

His final handler and trainer, Sgt. Kenny Mendez, 100th MWD Det., remembered Dark as a fun and goofy character.

“Dark was one of our crazier dogs. He had a lot of energy and drive to work,” said Mendez, who trained with the 7-year-old German Shepherd for eight months. “He was the first dog I worked with since I reclassified into this career field a year ago. He was fun and kept me motivated.”

When the pair first met, Dark wasn’t very accepting of his new trainer, but Mendez said after a few months of taking care of his new partner for five to six hours per day through grooming, physical exercise and intense training, he became more trusting and friendly.

“It took some time for him to warm up to me,” he said. “After a while I could see Dark’s attitude changing. He was more willing to come up to me and show affection. It was like he was saying, ‘This is my human.’”

His favorite memory of Dark was during their weeklong certification course last month at Stuttgart. Dark was having issues with giving false responses to his handler so he could receive his favorite reward — a blue rope toy, Mendez said.

“During the course, Dark gave a false response to an odor, because he wanted to get his reward,” Mendez explained. “I went up and joked around with him and said, ‘Bro, what are you doing? You know there’s nothing there?’ But Dark wouldn’t look at me or budge and acted ashamed like a little kid caught lying. I waited him out and eventually he came around.”

They would never complete the course.

On the day before the certification course ended, Mendez noticed Dark looked fatigued and mentioned it to the Soldier who was transporting the dogs. While driving, the Soldier noticed Dark had passed out. He quickly pulled over so that Mendez could take a look at his partner.

“Dark looked dazed and could barely stand,” the dog handler said. “We rushed him to the vet, and through an ultrasound they found bleeding in Dark’s abdomen.”

Mendez stayed with Dark until he could be transported the next morning to the Kaiserslautern Veterinary Treatment Facility. He never left Dark’s side — even through the surgery. The veterinarian performing the surgery found several masses in the dog’s abdomen, and a short time later Dark passed away.

Being there for his friend and partner to the end meant a lot, Mendez said.

“Dark made a huge impact on me because he was my first dog. So I learned everything I know through him, and he taught me a lot about becoming a better handler,” Mendez reflected. “I appreciate the support of those around me who helped me get through this experience.”

Soldiers are asked to develop a relationship with their military working dogs that is strong and unbreakable at its core, said Capt. Winston Simmonds, commander of the 92nd MPC and the 100th MWD Det., during the memorial service.

“It is not an easy task by any stretch of the imagination, especially when you consider that every individual dog has its own personality — some are larger than life. Dark was easily one of those with a larger than life personality, plus he had an amazing bite,” the commander said at the memorial service. “Today we gather here to honor Dark, but I would like to take a page from his play book to challenge each of us to leave here with a renewed sense of purpose. Let us continue to support each other with the tenacity that he showed. Let us trust each other with the unwavering trust that he had with his handler and let us greet every day with a wagging tail — figuratively speaking — as he would every day.”

During MWD Dark’s career, he was assigned to the 529th Military Police Company in Wiesbaden, the 92nd MPC and the 525th Military Working Dog Detachments in Baumholder and finally the 100th MWD Det., in Stuttgart then later Miesau, Germany.