Jan. 16—WILLMAR

— Two really good boys got to celebrate their retirement with Willmar police officers and the public Thursday at the Willmar Community Center.

K-9 officers Axel and Major will both retire from the

Willmar Police Department

. The two dogs posed for pictures for both the media and community members at their retirement party.

To celebrate, the Willmar Police Department handed out community canine kits with reflective cross-body bags, reflective dog bandannas, and dog waste bags. The

Hawk Creek Animal Shelter

also attended to accept donations.

Axel will retire after nine years of service, and Major after six years.

The two dogs have been deployed a combined 773 times for law enforcement work. Axel has assisted other agencies 113 times during his time with the Willmar Police Department.

According to Willmar Police Chief Jim Felt, both K-9 officers have helped law enforcement seize a total of an estimated street value of $382,500 worth of drugs and recover 26 firearms.

Both dogs are half

German shepherd

and half

Belgian malinois

, and came from Slovakia. They were hand-picked by Performance Kennels in Buffalo, Minnesota, where both dogs were trained.

Major joined Willmar Police in December of 2017 when he was 1 year old. Axel joined Willmar Police in December of 2014 when he was also 1 year old.

Officer Chris Flatten is Axel’s handler. “He’s an extremely loyal partner,” Flatten said. “I felt like I could always count on him throughout my career.”

According to Flatten, Axel has been great with him and his family. According to Flatten, Axel enjoys chewing and has a handful of extremely durable toys that he chews on in order to decompress.

“He has a very hard time shutting work off, but he still is able to enjoy his downtime at home,” Flatten said.

Sgt. Sam Schaefbauer, Major’s handler, described their relationship as fun and friendly.

“He’s very friendly and personable,” Schaefbauer said.

Major gets along well with other dogs, loves other people and he loves the energy kids bring during presentations and outreach at area elementary schools.

Major displays two different personalities at home and work.

“At work, if he was out running around in the office, you’d think he was just a regular department dog,” Schaefbauer said. “You wouldn’t know he’s a trained K-9, but when he needed to, he was able to put on that working hat and work.”

According to Willmar Police Chief Jim Felt, the retirements were spurred by a number of factors.

For Axel, it was simply to enjoy an easier life with his remaining dog years. “He’s slowing down,” Flatten said. “It’s about time to let him enjoy retirement.” Axel, at 9 years old, had begun to develop early arthritis.

In the case of Major, who recently turned 7, according to Schaefbauer, Felt said Major could have still been used for searches of buildings, tracking, apprehension, but he was also used for drug detection.

A factor that had moved the retirements up for the two dogs was in part due to the legislation legalizing recreational use and possession of marijuana in Minnesota. According to Schaefbauer, Flatten and Felt, while K-9 officers can be trained to detect and alert to as many as eight different types of drugs, they’re not able to voice or make a distinction to what specific type of drug it is.

According to Schaefbauer, Major was one of the last class of K-9 officers trained for detecting marijuana in 2018. “Once they learn it, you can’t really un-train it,” he said.

Felt said that while the department plans to continue the K-9 officer program, he expects to take a pause, due to the fact that Willmar police are currently short on staff.

“We just don’t have the staff to commit somebody to 12 to 14 weeks of training with a K-9,” he said.

Axel and Major will both get to enjoy their remaining dog years with their handlers and family at home.

Major will continue to go on hikes, spend time at the lake and live “a normal dog life,” Schaefbauer said.

“I can’t believe it has gone by this fast,” Flatten said. “It feels like just yesterday we were in the cities going through our 14 weeks of training.”

Flatten said it was a great opportunity to work with Axel, despite the frustrations of training a “1-year-old Tasmanian devil.”

Flatten said he’s learned a lot from working with Axel, including the virtue of patience. “It’s made me a better officer,” he said.