After long careers these two central Queensland police dogs are hanging up their work collars for retirement

From sniffing out mounds of illegal drugs hidden in unusual places to tracking offenders through kilometres of swampy, thick bushland, these two esteemed police dogs have seen it all.

But now after years of hard work in their respective illustrious careers, Sacco and Violet are swapping out their working collars for sneaky dips in the pool and hunting down tasty treats.

The pair have come full circle after graduating together in 2016.

“She’s been a very good police dog, I’m proud of what she’s done,” Violet’s handler, Senior Constable Cam O’Sullivan, said.

“She’s found substantial amounts of drugs and firearms that were very well concealed, whether it be buried in the ground, false wall compartments, under stoves or in the back of range hoods.”

Sacco’s handler, Sergeant Jeff Brandt, officer in charge of the Rockhampton dog squad, has similar words of praise for his pooch.

“There’s nothing you could put in his way that would stop him, he’s a very determined dog,” he said.

After years of working hard, a question police are often asked is how the canines go transitioning to retirement, and what happens to them.

In Violet and Sacco’s case, both will continue living at home with their respective handlers, and by all reports, have taken well to retirement.

Retirement life ‘not hard at all’

Sergeant Brandt said Sacco’s first order of business after retiring was sneaking his way into becoming an inside dog.

“Police dogs are kennelled a lot because of their capability, but now he does like to be inside every opportunity [he can], especially when it’s hot,” he said.

Though he said Sacco still gets excited about trips in the work car.

As for Violet, she has been enjoying playing with senior constable O’Sullivan’s children, being a “very soft-natured dog”.

“She could easily be an assistant dog, that’s how soft she is,” he said.

He said, having spent years searching for contraband, sometimes she could not help but take a sniff around, especially if there’s food nearby.

“That is always funny when you come home, and you see her searching along all the architraves and cupboards.

“She’s not finding retired life hard at all. She has fitted in well with the pet dogs at home and her odd little trip in the back of the work truck keeps her happy.”

When is it time to retire?

Sergeant Brandt said handlers could see subtle changes in their dogs, that indicated when it might be time to retire.

“That work ethic is still there, but they tend to just fall off their performance a little bit and they’re happier in the truck than out in the heat doing a job,” he said.

“Especially when they’re getting older…[for example] if we’re coming out of the back of the truck to do a job, but he’s looking more at the back of the truck instead of where you want him to go.”

He said once a dog transitions to “regular life”, handlers take away the verbal cues that would usually “activate” the canines to do certain things.

“We stopped doing certain types of training with the dog as well … so that becomes something that’s a bit of a distant memory for them.”

As the old makes way for the young, both handlers are working with new dogs. Senior Constable O’Sullivan has been working with dog Tux for about two years.

While Sergeant Brandt is working with Bullet, a two-year-old German Shepherd.