Police dog finds new life after retirement
Tulsa World john.klein@tulsaworld.com
TULSA — Tulsa Airport Police Cpl. Bryan Jones just wanted a dog “to be my sidekick.”
So he rescued a Belgian Malinois five years ago with the intention of “just doing stuff in my off time with him.”
But it became apparent pretty fast that the dog named Tibo was talented enough and wanted to do more.
“I was around a lot of canine officers from all sorts of law enforcement agencies that told me Tibo had all of the characteristics of a canine officer,” said Jones. “He loved to track. He had fantastic sniffing abilities for narcotics odors.
“And he didn’t like to sit still. He was happiest when he had a job to do.”
Five years after the dog completed his canine officer training and worked on many cases with various law enforcement agencies in the area, Tibo is retiring.
Like a lot of fabulous athletes whose careers end because of leg injuries, Tibo is being sent into retirement by a problem with his right back leg that required extensive surgery to repair.
Tibo is now up and moving and eager to get back to work. So Jones came up with an idea.
“He’s happiest when he’s out doing his job,” said Jones. “So I came up with the idea of using him to help educate people.
“We started doing some presentations with a few groups, and it has grown pretty fast. We talk about narcotics, and then Tibo does a demonstration of narcotics sniffing and tracking. Then he interacts with the youngsters. He loves to play with people.”
Tibo may not be able to work as a canine officer any longer because of the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) surgery, but he is back doing what he loves.
On a recent morning at Haikey Creek Park, Jones set up a sniffing test for Tibo. Five boxes were set out, with one of them having a narcotics odor.
Tibo sniffed out four of the five the boxes before he located the smell in the fourth box. He stopped and sat down. His reward? A blue ball that he loves.
“He really gets excited when he gets the blue ball,” said Jones. “He knows he’s done his job.”
By doing the demonstrations as part of a narcotics education program with Jones, Tibo gets to keep working.
Instead of capturing bad guys, the dog is helping educate people.
“When I first got Tibo, I knew he was a great dog,” Jones said. “I was looking for a dog to do stuff with, and I got so much more. He’s my best friend; no doubt about it.
“But he was also a fantastic canine officer. He was very good at his job.”
Tibo, who is believed to be about 8 years old, was named after Jones’ stepfather, Felix Raiford, a Tulsa Police Department homicide detective from 194767.
“His nickname with his fellow officers was Tibo,” said Jones. “So once I picked up the dog from the rescue group in Kansas City, it was a natural for me to name him Tibo as a tribute.”
After Jones’ fellow officers noticed Tibo’s abilities and suggested training him as a canine officer, Jones started the 120-hour certification process. “Within a week he was doing things that took other dogs two weeks or longer to learn,” said Jones. “He’s not only eager and happy to do his job, but he’s also very smart.
“We worked a case for a missing man down in Garvin County one time. It was getting dark, but he tracked a scent for about a mile and a half when the search was called off for the night. The next morning, when the search resumed, they found the man very near the spot where Tibo had tracked him a day earlier.”
Tibo has been certified by the U.S. Police Canine Association.
Jones schedules the law enforcement demonstrations and appearances with Tibo during his off hours with the Tulsa Airport Police.
“The response has been amazing,” he said. “We just started out with a couple of small groups this summer, and now we’re booked up through October.
“I just think Tibo is the best. People really love him. He’s got a great personality. Thanks to him we can get the message out about the dangers of narcotics.”