Retired PSD Hawkes won’t sleep on a good Kong but he might doze off while chewing his and when he drops it, will wake up to start over again! Hawkes was born September 15, 2015 in Innisfail, AB and spent his dedicated career with the RCMP serving the Peace Laird and Okanagan regions of BC alongside his handler.
Hawkes jumped promptly into his role as shortly after training they were called to track suspects from a stolen vehicle/road rage accident in the hills outside Fort St. John. Hawkes found a track leading up into the hills and indicated the suspects were above them, enabling them to pull off and pop up in a different location. Once at the top of the ridge one of the suspects could be seen lying prone with a rifle pointing in the direction where they would have originally crested the ridge. They were then able to surprise the suspect and without skipping a beat, Hawkes engaged the suspect and took him into custody without a hitch. This made the other suspects come out of their hiding spots and give up. This call had all kinds of bad that could have happened but with Hawkes in the lead, he evened the playing field. This was one of the first times Hawkes had to step in the ring with his handler but it definitely wasn’t the last!
Hawkes was active in Search and Rescue (SAR) endeavours, sometimes searching sun up to sun down and wouldn’t stop if he was on a hot track. During his SAR calls, when HAWKES found the missing people, Hawkes would grab sticks, sometimes still attached to the trees – the bigger the better – and parade them around while they walked out, proving his great tracking skills and soo proud of his accomplishments for finding the missing people! Hawkes loved just going to work of any sort and give it his best. Whether it be the frigid North, or the heat (and smoke) of the South, he would always be at the gate ready to rock!
When getting in the truck, Hawkes always wanted one last chest rub which he would get by coming from behind his handler and ramming his quite large head between his legs and look up at him. In the early days Hawkes would nearly knock him off his feet when he wasn’t expecting it. If his handler didn’t have Hawkes’ harness in his hands coming out of the truck, he would immediately put his paws on his chest to repeat the process.
Hawkes always hopped in with all four paws doing whatever he needed to make sure him and his handler made it home!