PSD Hondo

Police Service Dog Hondo

Police Service Dog (PSD) Hondo is a pure bred German Shepherd, and he has been a police dog with the Vancouver Police Department since 2005.  His badge number is PSD #0478,  which stands for the year he was born (2004) and the sequence he falls into (#78 – the VPD only started keeping track of their dogs 77 dogs ago – over 150 dogs have served with the VPD since the 1960’s).

Hondo is a dog who needs to have a job to do.  When not actively chasing after ‘bad guys’, Hondo uses his keen sense of smell to track people, search areas,  and locate evidence/property.  He is the four-legged partner to his handler, Cst. Sandra Glendinning, and together they work out on the streets to keep the citizens of Vancouver safe.   Hondo and Cst. Glendinning work with seventeen other handler/dog teams within the Dog Squad.

Like most of the other handler/dogs teams of the VPD, Hondo and Cst. Glendinning have trained with the Emergency Response Team, and are one of six teams trained with the Public Order Unit.  

All the handler/dog teams work from a modified police SUV, currently a Chevy Tahoe.  Instead of a rear seat, there is a kennel area for the police dog to ride around in.  The vehicle has air conditioning, as well as a heat alarm to alert the handler if the temperature of the vehicle goes above or below a certain temperature.  If the interior temperature of the vehicle gets too hot, then an audible alarm sounds and the windows of the SUV automatically roll down to allow air flow.  

To view the trading cards of the VPD Police Dogs, and to download the Dog Squad’s 50th Anniversary poster, visit the VPD Dog Squad’s website.

Do you have a question for PSD Hondo or any other police dog with the Vancouver Police?  Just send an e-mail to Cst. Glendinning, at sandra@behindtheblueline.ca,

Guardians Of The Night

Trust in me my friend for I am your comrade. I will protect you with my last breath. When all others have left you and the loneliness of the night closes in, I will be at your side.

Together we will conquer all obstacles, and search out those who might wish harm to others.  All I ask of you is compassion, the caring touch of your hands.  It is for you that I will unselfishly give my life, and spend my nights unrested.  Although our days together may be marked by the passing of the seasons, know that each day at your side is my reward.

My days are measured by the coming and going of your footsteps.  I anticipate them at every opening of the door.  You are the voice of caring when I am ill.  The voice of authority when I’ve done wrong.

Do not chastise me unduly for I am your right arm, the sword at your side.  I attempt to do only what you bid of me. I seek only to please you and remain in your favour.

Together you and I shall experience a bond only others like us will understand.  When outsiders see us together their envy will be measured by their disdain.

I will quietly listen to you and pass no judgement, nor will your spoken words be repeated.  I will remain ever silent, ever vigilant, and ever loyal.  And when our time together is done and you move on in the world, remember me with kind thoughts and tales, for a time we were unbeatable.  Nothing passed among us undetected.

If we should meet again on another street I will gladly take up your fight.  I am a Police Working Dog and together we are Guardians Of The Night.

- Author Unknown