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K9 Apollo retires after loyal service to FHCC and community
By Jayna Legg, Public Affairs Specialist
As of Jan. 8, Apollo the K9 officer for the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center, became a “house dog,” giving up his full-time job in favor of stretching out on the carpet in his favorite sunny spot by the back door of his handler’s home.
From there, the 8-year-old labrador retriever can keep an eye on things going on with the family, said Sgt. Kevin Hisle, who has handled Apollo the last three years at Lovell FHCC, an integrated VA and Navy hospital. When the K9’s arthritis and decreasing mobility in recent months led to the difficult decision to retire him early, Hisle jumped at the chance to adopt him.
“He’s a good dog, he’s a lover,” Hisle said when interviewed Jan. 6, noting that his family never doubted Apollo would become a permanent member of the family. “My family loves him.”
Apollo returned to Lovell FHCC with Hisle one last time Jan. 14, to be recognized by leaders and presented a retirement plaque by VA Assistant Secretary, Operations, Security, and Preparedness Reginald G. A. Neal.
No doubt Apollo was happy to jump into Hisle’s truck and make the drive to Lovell FHCC for his retirement ceremony. Before Apollo’s last day, Hisle predicted retirement would be difficult for Apollo, who is used to spending much of his time tracking missing people and finding illegal drugs, as well as recovering weapons and other articles.
“When I get up, he gets all antsy to go in the truck,” Hisle said. “He’s going to have to switch gears now. I’ll let him out in the morning, and then he’ll have to go back in the house.”
Having his K9 partner live with him was a new thing for Navy Veteran Hisle, who handled many drug and bomb-sniffing dogs over the years as a military policeman. The difference was, those dogs stayed in a kennel at night.
Apollo’s housemates include three other dogs, some chickens, cats, rabbits, “a real menagerie,” Hisle said. And sometime soon, Hisle expects to bring home another dog when Hisle is assigned a new K9 partner. But that process is long and involves a lot of paperwork, Hisle said. Both Hisle and the new canine will undergo extensive training and certifications, as well, before the dog can officially begin working at Lovell FHCC later in the year.
Apollo was a good will ambassador for Lovell FHCC. He made a name for himself at Naval Station Great Lakes and in surrounding communities in Lake and McHenry counties, working with other canine units or alone. He helped with suppression details in North Chicago, for example. He assisted when Winthrop Harbor, Zion and other communities needed an increased police presence for various situations. And he has tracked missing people, many of them Veterans and some children.
“We were put into the toolbox of a lot of departments,” Hisle said. He credited Lovell FHCC Police Chief Robert Crawford for putting the team’s name out there, offering their services widely when they weren’t working at Lovell FHCC.
Over the years, Apollo has had more “finds” than Hisle can count. Some stand out, like the time in Lake Bluff when a young autistic boy snuck out his back door and disappeared. “Apollo went in, followed the boy’s trail 200 yards, and the boy was found sitting on a park swing. Apollo is so gentle. The boy squealed and then he got down and hugged Apollo, and Apollo just sat there and enjoyed the attention.”
Another time Apollo tracked a missing autistic teenager over a four-lane highway, across a field, to a bus stop. “Apollo responded at the bus stop and laid down, so then we knew the boy got on the bus.” The boy was found safe soon after.
Then there was the time he tracked an elderly nursing home resident across a parking lot and a large grassy area into a small swath of trees and then into a cornfield. Other times, he has found weapons where they were tossed as the perpetrators fled police.
“Tracking and narcotics, that’s what he loves to do,” Hisle said. “He has a large drive. He pulls hard. My shoulders will tell you that.”
Apollo’s nose is “second to none,” Hisle said. Every time Hisle and Apollo have been called out, they’ve been successful. The oldest scent he tracked was 26 hours old, and the greatest distance he followed a scent was 1.3 miles. Both were during training sessions.
Apollo keeps at it, doing whatever he’s asked to do, if afterwards he gets to play with his favorite toy – a multi-colored ball on a string. “All he wants is that ball, that toy,” Hisle said. “He’ll go for three hours, as long as he gets his toy at the end. That’s his reward. Then he’s in seventh heaven.”
Hisle said there’s nothing better than watching Apollo find a missing person or locate illegal drugs and missing items – unless it’s being the object of the dog’s affection.
“He is such a lover that the best part of my day, in all honesty, is when I’m sitting in my office chair, or my recliner, and he comes up and plops himself right between my legs and puts his head in my lap, or rubs on me,” Hisle said. “It gets to you when he does that.
“That mutt has really grown on me something fierce.”