At the good old age of 16½, retired South Lake Tahoe police canine Buddy has passed away.

Buddy served as the canine partner for now retired SLTPD Officer Brian McGuckin between the years of 1999-2005. As with most canine/handler teams, Buddy and McGuckin had a strong connection.

Buddy had a tremendous work drive and was among the most athletic dogs employed by the department. Buddy had an extraordinary ability to leap over tall obstacles in his job performance. McGuckin was occasionally teased by fellow officers that Buddy should have been equipped with a Superman cape as part of his uniform.

Buddy

Buddy was particularly skilled in narcotics detection, building searches, apprehension of fleeing felons, and master/officer protection.

Buddy was originally purchased through the voluntarily sponsorship of the South Lake Tahoe community. In July 1997, when an SLTPD German Shepherd named Kris was hit by a car during off-duty hours, the department turned to the community for financial help filling the void. There was no budget to replace Kris. Learning of the need, the people of Lake Tahoe’s South Shore generated approximately $10,000 to replace this valuable asset. The money was used to bring Buddy to the police department, who served the community and the canine unit faithfully for just more than six years.

After his retirement, Buddy enjoyed family life with his similarly retired partner McGuckin. According to McGuckin, who now resides in another Northern California city, Buddy always seemed to miss police work. He had a true love for it.

Although he will miss his long-time companion and faithful partner terribly, McGuckin notes that Buddy enjoyed a comfortable long life and left a strong working legacy for the police canine program at the South Lake Tahoe Police Department.