PSD – RCMP POLICE SERVICE DOG – Ukker

Regimental Number: #252

Pillar Location: PSD Plaque 1 - Column D

Troop Number and Year: 1982

UKKER’S RETIREMENT 

Everyone thinks about retirement: For me, it became a reality, when the Air Canada jet I was aboard, took off from Halifax, Nova Scotia. I pondered whether I had made the right decision, and wondered if I really had enough of police work. Could I settle down as a civilian and forget my RCMP friends? I knew I would never forget my troop mates, the Force and civilian members I had worked or socialized with over the years, nor would I forget the memories of my working career.

As the plane levelled off my thoughts returned to the tears of sadness shed by my partner, Corporal Wayne Crossan, as he bid me goodbye. He had been quieter than usual after helping me with my decision to retire. I’m sure his thoughts were also on the experiences we shared: Like the time we had a shotgun pointed at us by a distraught fugitive, or the tears of joy we shared with members of a family when we found their missing grandfather.

It seems like just yesterday, I was in training, greeting my troop mates for the first time. We were just young pups from all over Canada. We were like putty in the Corporals’ hands as they put us through our paces.

I remember running through the fields around Penhold, Alberta, thinking I would never walk straight again; I had so many knots in my legs. 

It felt so good to get back to the barracks at night, have a good meal, and hit the hay after a long day. In no time, training was over and we were posted to Richmond, BC. It seemed ironic the Force would send me there, when my hometown was Baddeck, Nova Scotia.

Everyone is interviewed prior to leaving training and asked if they had a preference where they might want to be posted. The rumour all recruits hear, is that, if you want to go to the East Coast tell the personnel officer you want to go to the West Coast.

As our plane flew over Ottawa, I remembered the time I chased a squirrel at the Canadian Police College, at Rockcliffe and hit a parked police car. There was lots of paperwork over that incident, and I required a cast, plus, my injuries, took me out of the “seas and sounds saddles charity show.” However, we returned in 1986 and stole the show. The crowd applauded my abilities. I fondly remember how proud Wayne Crossan was of our performance, as well as of our performance at the 1987 Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo in Halifax.

Wayne had prepared an album covering my career, with photographs from my training days and my refresher courses, newspaper articles, letters of thanks from school children, parents, other police forces, and commendations from the Force for the work we had done.

Jerry Forst, an ex-member, was to meet me at the Edmonton International Airport and help me get settled. We had never met, but I knew he and his wife Ruth lived with their children, Robert and Tanya on a few acres of land within the city limits.

As I stepped out of the plane and into the fresh Alberta air, I saw Jerry and his family. My first impression was that they were pretty friendly, and I couldn’t believe it when they told me to climb into the back seat of the family sedan with their children. I was expecting to ride in the back of a station wagon or a truck.

When we arrived at their acreage  I met the rest of the family: Thor, their English Springer Spaniel, two cats and three of the biggest horses I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t believe this place. I slept in the house with the family, even though I had my own kennel and a run. I preferred the smells of home cooking. I had two acres to run around in, and was actually allowed to chew up old gloves, sticks and frisbees. 
Retirement changed my way of thinking: It became more like fun to hide things, than to find things. After  arriving however, I did get into some trouble. Ruth found out I could dig carrots out of her garden, when she caught me sharing them with Thor and the horses.

Did I ever think about police work? You bet I did! Every time I heard a siren, saw flashing red/blue lights, or a police officer in uniform. I also think about the dedicated men, women, dogs and horses in the RCMP. And sometimes I wondered how I would have looked in red serge. Life was good, I had a great career, a good partner, and a wonderful family during my retirement years. 

I wasn’t the first retiree to live with the Forst’s. PSD REX, Regimental #110, Joe MacDonald’s partner, had also lived with the Forst family in B.C., until he passed. I’m sure Rex missed Joe; the same way I missed Wayne. I also came to realize that Pros like Joe and Wayne can’t keep all their partners, all the time. And it was very thoughtful of them to have found a great retirement home for me and Rex, with the Forst family. 

 

Regimental number #252 Police Service Dog Ukker and his handler, Corporal Wayne Crossan trained in Innisfail, Alberta in 1982. They served in British Columbia, Alberta, and Nova Scotia. Ukker retired in 1989 and lived with the Forst family until peacefully passing away, in 1993.

The ghost author, Corporal Jerry Forst, Regimental # 24851, wrote this article in appreciation of receiving PSD's, Rex and Ukker from the Force. This story is an updated article that appeared in the RCMP Quarterly in the Fall of 1991. The story was shared with folks at Tattoos and dog shows as a dedication to all PSD Handlers, who retired their partners. 

 

Story Submitted by Jerry Forst

March 21, 2024

 

Divisions Served: E, K, H

Pillar Location: PSD Plaque 1 - Column D

Regimental Number: #252

Training Division: Innisfail, AB

Troop Number and Year: 1982

Home Town: Baddeck, NS