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Clyde has been a part of 500 searches with the Davis County Sheriff's Office.
About 150 criminals were arrested because of his work. And he's located three suspects in hiding—but never bit a single one.
And after working the job for half his life, Clyde, a K9 police dog, is ready to retire.
The physical nature of the job has taken its toll on the 6-year-old Belgian Malinois, said Clyde's handler, Deputy Brandon Roundy.
Roundy said Clyde — who has lived with Roundy's family in Hooper for more than three years—officially retired from his duties on Dec. 3.
"He still thinks he's a police dog," Roundy said. "He's still amped up."
Roundy, who has worked with the sheriff's office for five years, has patrolled side-by-side with Clyde since the dog came into the force about three-and-a-half years ago. Clyde has spent much of his career sniffing out drugs or following his nose to locate suspects on the run.
Roundy said some of his favorite moments with Clyde were when the K9 proved to be better at searching than his human comrades. On several occasions, the dog would indicate to Roundy that drugs were in a vehicle, the deputy said. So, deputies would search, and sometimes, they came up with nothing. Clyde would search the vehicle again, and—eventually—sniff out the drugs where they were secreted behind a glove box or some other hidden compartment.
Besides the dog's police skills, Roundy said he'll miss hearing Clyde's excited movements in the back of his patrol truck, ready to help or even attack if needed.
"It's definitely lonely," Roundy said of losing Clyde to retirement. "It's nice to have your back-up very readily available."
But now, Clyde will spend his days as Roundy's running partner. He'll continue to live with the Roundy family, but the police dog will never be what one would consider a family dog, the deputy said.
Roundy and his wife have 5-year-old twins and a 1-year-old, and Roundy said that for fear of a bite his kids generally can pet Clyde only if he has a handle on the dog. The dog will never have "free rein" in their home, Roundy said.
Roundy is also moving on from the K9 department. Since deputies cannot have two trained police dogs in their home, Roundy said he's moving back to the patrol unit so Clyde can continue living with his family.
Roundy said he will still continue to train Clyde with obedience and tracking, though he likely won't receive much more training about sniffing out drugs.
"It's just a hobby now," he said.
Twitter: @jm_miller