RETIREMENT PAWTY

The Sanders County drug dog retired last Friday, and many in the community who knew Max's work say he will be dearly missed. The eight-year-old lab worked in the county for over six years. He was trained to detect four substances, including marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin. Max had more than 100 drug arrests credited to his work and was one of only 25 drug dogs in the state.

However, with the new legislation legalizing marijuana, Max and 19 other dogs are being forced into retirement, since they cannot be trained to ignore what they were originally trained to detect. Now, Montana has only five drug dogs left across the state that can continue to work and according to Jan Manning, "new and additional resources are going to be required," to train up more dogs to go to work.

Max's handler and friend, Reserve Deputy Lynn Lanzoni, will be joining his partner in retirement. "Sanders County will miss both Lynn and his dog and we salute them both for their service," Max's retirement celebration last Friday at the Elks Lodge.

Sanders County Sheriff Tom Rummel stood to speak after Manning. He explained that Lanzoni was very dependable and never turned down an opportunity to get Max to work or help where he could. Rummel talked about the work they did, having helped on numerous drug cases as well as guarding crime scenes and roadblocks. "That guy right there, and that nose, saved us hours of work," included Rummel, speaking of house searches. "It's absolutely scary what a dog's nose can do." He also explained how Lanzoni "took a heck of a burden off the people of Sanders County" by taking on the financial obligation of getting Max and training him.

After everyone else finished speaking, Lanzoni decided to say a few words. He recognized Blaine Blackstone for his help in training Max, citing Blackstone's experience with the police in California and training other dogs. According to Lanzoni, Max had logged over 2,700 hours of training, and Blackstone was there for most of it. "He did it because he wanted to help the citizens of the county," Lanzoni said of Blackstone.

After his speech, Lanzoni, who brought Max into the celebration wearing his work collar, removed the collar for the last time. This was done symbolically to retire both Max and himself. Both of them plan to stay in Thompson Falls. While Max enjoys a needed reprieve, his owner Lanzoni plans to continue off-duty work with the sheriff's department, hoping to incorporate amateur radio communications into the county's emergency planning.