Larimer Retired K9 Foundation using sales of Sheriff’s Office dog plushies for continued fundraising – Loveland Reporter-Herald

FORT COLLINS, CO – APRIL 27, 2023: Riggs, a 2 year-old Larimer County Sheriff’s Office K9, chews on a plush that depicts him as he looks up at his handler, Deputy Emily Reed, on Thursday, April 27, 2023, outside the department in Fort Collins. The Larimer Retired K9 Foundation sells plushie versions of LCSO K9 that are used as part of the foundation’s fundraising for all LCSO K9s. (Jenny Sparks/Loveland Reporter-Herald)

As the Larimer Retired K9 foundation works to support retired Larimer County Sheriff’s Office K9s, part of their fundraising comes from a uniquely cute format: sales of plushie versions of the LCSO dogs.

The foundation sells stuffed animal versions of the various LCSO K9s, ranging from active duty dogs to those who have retired and to those who served and have since died.

The nonprofit began in 2017 with the primary goal of supporting the K9s after they step down from their working positions. This includes funding for beds, toys, food and medical bills for the dogs after they have retired from the LCSO.

“We want to make sure they can go home to their handlers and live out their life healthy and enjoying retirement because they go through a lot when they are on the streets,” said Barbara Bennett, president of the foundation.

While they have several ways of fundraising for this purpose, one that has been ongoing is the sale of plushie recreations of the dogs that serve the county.

Bennett, who also works at the Sheriff’s Office as the Crime Prevention unit coordinator, said the idea started several years ago as another way to go about fundraising that quickly grew in popularity.

Now, the foundation offers 19 plushie versions that are sold at different events.

“They are very popular because they are custom for each dog,” she said.

Each plushie not only captures the likeness of each K9, it also comes with a custom vest and replicas of the dog’s collar and badge. The foundation also offers trading cards of each of the dogs that includes information such as breed, where the animal is from and even a little about how the dog joined LCSO and who the handler is.

Bennett said this arm of fundraising work is a unique one, and allows the nonprofit to share the stories of the K9 unit so the community can come to know the dogs they may see out working.

“We are a very big K9 and dog loving community,” she said. “I think it provides the information and the connection to these K9 deputies and what they do and how important they are for our community safety. It is pretty obvious they can do things that we humans cannot.”

And the work that the foundation does is not unnoticed by the members of the LCSO K9 unit, both active and retired.

Mike Gurwin and his now 8-year-old Belgian Malinois Taz retired from the Sheriff’s Office last year. Gurwin said being part of the K9 team was a dream come true for his law enforcement career, particularly in the ways it bonded him to Taz.

“I had always heard about the bond handlers had with their dogs, and after experiencing it…the bond we established is unspeakable,” he said. “It is something you don’t know until you experience it.”

He added that he is extremely grateful for the foundation and what it does for retired K9s. He said that Taz has had some medical problems and even goes to physical therapy throughout the year, and having the backing of the foundation to help pay for all of it means he can take care of a dog that worked hard for many years and would “give his life without thinking about it.”

“It gives him the ability to live a good comfortable life and cover the expenses of those medical (procedures) so he can get the care he needs,” he said.

Emily Reed, a current handler at the department who works with Riggs, a nearly 3-year-old Belgian Malinois, echoed this sentiment; she said knowing the foundation is there to help Riggs when he hangs up the badge means a lot.

“It (offers) such peace of mind to know I don’t have to worry about him,” she said, later adding “All he has to worry about is getting spoiled.”

“We want to make sure the handler can take the dog home to be part of (their) family … and not have to have this financial worry,” Bennett said. “That was the driver, keeping the handler together with the dog and taking the financial burden off the handler and their family.”

Bennett said that plushies can be bought at Larimer Retired K9 Foundation fundraising events. Anyone interested in buying one outside of an event can email a request on the foundation’s website, larimerretiredk9foundation.com.