A 2-year-old Belgian Malinois was supposed to be the ninth member of the police force in the Oregon coastal town of Cannon Beach, but “Cash” just didn’t have what it takes.

The dog was dismissed from the force before seeing any action or gaining any glory.

Cash was skittish, afraid of heights and had a barking problem. Noises would scare him. When he had to jump onto counters in search of drugs, he showed too much resistance.

He would often bark aggressively rather than go straight to the drugs.

Barking is “fine as an alert, but you can’t get anything done when you’re trying to get him to find dope and he’s just barking in your face,” said Officer Josh Gregory, the dog’s former handler, told the Daily Astorian.

“That’s not the temperament we wanted to set for Cannon Beach,” Police Chief Jason Schermerhorn said.

Cash was returned to his original owner, Tami Schultz of Clatsop County Search and Rescue, and the Cannon Beach Police Department is searching for a replacement.

They’re looking for a “ball-crazy, happy, wanting-to-work dog,” said Gregory, who will spend two to three weeks training with the dog after taking it into his care. “(We) basically learn how to dance together.”

The department acquired Cash after raising $27,000 for the K-9 officer program earlier this year.

Gregory and the Washington County trainer tried to train Cash for four weeks, between September and October, before giving up on him. “Where other dogs were progressing, he wasn’t progressing,” Gregory said.

Source: The Daily Astorian, http://www.dailyastorian.com

All Guts and Glory

A police dog named Copper has been credited for saving the life of a missing 6-year-old Utah boy who accidentally fell into an open manhole and became trapped underground.

Kollin Bailey presented a large bone and a stocking full of doggie treats to his new four-legged friend one Saturday, a day after his ordeal in cold darkness about 10 feet below ground.

“He saved my life,” the boy told KUTV-TV, echoing his parents’ belief.

After he was reported missing December 5, that Friday afternoon, the 6-year-old bloodhound tracked his scent to the manhole in Kollin’s hometown of Herriman, about 25 miles south of Salt Lake City.

Police said the boy spent three to four hours there until he was located that Friday night. An officer then descended the hole to lift him out.

“I was really scared ... I thought I was going to miss Christmas,” Kollin said.

Kollin, who suffered a broken arm and mild concussion, said he was flying a kite when he tripped and fell into the manhole.

“I was looking back at my kite and I fell, then I blacked out. And when I opened my eyes, I was in there,” he told the Deseret News.

The dog’s handler, West Valley City police Sgt. Shane Matheson, said it only took Copper about 20 minutes to lead him to the manhole once they joined the search. They began their search from where Kollin’s bicycle was found.

“He (Kollin) was pretty relieved he had been found,” Matheson told The Salt Lake Tribune. “He said he thought he had been down there seven hours.”

It was all in a day’s work for Copper, who has tracked down 81 suspects and missing people, Matheson added.

“To him it is just a game of hide and seek,” he said. “It’s kind of a nice change of pace from finding bad guys to actually helping a family out.”