Recently, retired Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics-Detection K9 “Boots” died at 13 years-of-age.
Boots was a Border Collie / Queensland Heeler mix, who was found as a stray standing in the middle of E. Winnemucca Blvd. in a snowstorm in December of 2005. She was approximately 6 weeks of age at that time. Had she not been rescued that night, she almost certainly would have died during that storm.
Boots was simply a very loved house pet for the first 5 years of her life. In 2011, her owner, Deputy Chris Aker, was given the opportunity to become a K9 handler for the HCSO. The initial plan was to assign Deputy Aker a Belgian Malinois, which the agency was planning to purchase. Deputy Aker requested, and was approved, to try to train “Boots” to detect illegal narcotics, and ultimately become a working law-enforcement K9. Deputy Aker had no official expertise in training police K9’s, but Boots overcame that obstacle.
Prior to beginning her training, Boots was evaluated by two certified K9 trainers. Both stated the opinion that Boots had the potential to be a “C” level dog, but that it would take constant training to achieve, and maintain that level. Deputy Aker was told that he would be better served if he just took the Malinois that he was scheduled to get, and not bother training Boots.
Although he had never trained a dog for police work, Deputy Aker had much experience working with police dogs throughout his career, and was aware of the important traits and skills a prospective drug-dog required. Based upon his relationship with Boots, and his knowledge of her demeanor, intelligence and drive, Deputy Aker decided to ignore the trainers’ advice, and train Boots. The team began their training in January of 2011.
In April 2011, Deputy Aker and Boots attended a Peace Officer’s Standards and Training (POST) certification course. Boots excelled, and was named the “Top Dog” in her class. The two trainers who had initially discouraged Deputy Aker, both admitted to the entire class that they were mistaken. Both said that Boots was an “A” level dog, and they predicted she would have a very successful career. As a result of Boots’ success, the HCSO just received a fully-trained, POST certified narcotics-detection K9, with an estimated value of $8,000, for free.
K9 Boots was now certified to detect illegal narcotics, including Marijuana, Methamphetamine, Cocaine, Heroin and Ecstasy. She began her career on patrol, helping to remove illegal narcotics, and criminals from the streets of Humboldt County and the City of Winnemucca.
During her employ with the HCSO, Boots was responsible for hundreds of seizures of narcotics and firearms, as well as 80 felony arrests and numerous misdemeanor arrests. She was also responsible for the seizure of over $90,000 USD, all of which was directly related to the trafficking of illegal narcotics. In 2013, the team of Sgt. Aker and Boots received the Street Level Interdiction Officers of the Year award from the 420 Criminal Interdiction training organization. This award was based in large part, upon Boots’ exceptional skill and desire to perform. Her largest individual seizure occurred in December 2014, when she found 116 pounds of Marijuana in a vehicle. Boots ended her career with a 94% accuracy rating, which far exceeds the national requirement for narcotics-detection K9’s.
Additionally, Boots’ friendly disposition made her a valuable public-relations tool for the HCSO. Boots participated in numerous community outreach programs for the agency. These included public demonstrations of her detection skills at various functions, including Fourth-of-July celebrations, and elementary and high school functions. Children loved Boots, and she loved receiving their attention.
Unfortunately, Boots tore her ACL during a deployment in mid-2014, which resulted in her undergoing surgery to repair the damage. As a result, Boots was forced to retire in April of 2015.
Boots spent her remaining years as a beloved house pet. She enriched the lives of both Sgt. Aker, and his wife, Ellen, more than the little dog could ever know. Boots lived a very enjoyable, and pampered life. It’s funny how a chance meeting on a roadway in a snowstorm could result in such positive, amazing results for the HCSO, the citizens of Humboldt County, the Aker family, and of course, Boots.
On Saturday April 13th, 2009, K9 Boots passed away.
Boots will be missed by all who knew and loved her. Please take a moment for her in your thoughts and prayers.
The Aker’s would like to publicly thank local Veterinarians Rolf Schwartz and Ross Zimmerman for their care and concern for Boots over her lifetime.
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office thanks K9 Boots for her important, successful service.
