A Salt Lake City Police Department dog named Troll died Friday of cancer after 4½ years of police service.

The police dog was diagnosed with an untreatable tumor in mid-April, but the 5-year-old dog worked through his last week of life — catching four felony suspects, his last bust on the day before he died.

The shepherd was born in Germany in June 2004 and joined the police department in January 2006. He was assigned to Officer Cale Lennberg, under whom Troll earned certification in patrol and narcotics searches in April that same year.

Troll was a good narcotics dog, but excelled in tracking and searching for people, police said. He was used extensively for public education, K9 demonstrations and department meet-and-greets.

He was deployed 456 times to search for people or drugs and apprehended 71 suspects. —

No doubt K9 Officer Troll was a top dog

Police dog Troll and Officer Cale Lennberg earned more than 30 trophies in K9 trial competitions, including these top honors.

1st place • Top Dog Utah Peace Officers Association (UPOA)

2010 • 1st place Tracking K9 UPOA

2009 • 1st place Top Dog UPOA

2009 • 2nd place Top Dog Las Vegas

2009 • 2nd place overall Narcotics K9 Las Vegas

2007 • 1st place Top Dog UPOA

2007 • 1st place Top Dog West Valley K9 Trial