One of Loveland Police’s trusty K-9’s is back to wagging his tail and fighting crime.
The K-9, Styng, has been in recovery since Jan. 9 after an attempted murder suspect bit the furry officer in the chin, said Styng’s handler, Officer
Rob Croner. The accused also squeezed Styng in between his legs in an attempt to injure the animal further, Croner added.
“I don’t want him to get hurt doing this, but (Styng) did what he did to protect us,” Croner said. “He has a really important job, so it’s important to take care of him … he’s a member of our family.”
A Hampton Inn employee
called 911 after seeing an unclothed suspect acting irrationally in the hotel’s lobby with a gun, according to police. The suspect now faces 18 attempted murder counts for reportedly firing shots towards officers as they arrived at the scene, as well as a felony charge of aggravated cruelty to animals . After chemical irritants didn’t work to get the barricaded suspect out of
he hotel, Styng was brought in or an apprehension.
Styng was left with a twonch laceration near his mouth nd was bleeding pretty heavly, Croner said. Styng bit the uspect near his left armpit, roner said, but was unsure if he man needed stitches from he bite.
After doing his initial head to
tail check on Styng, he also had a veterinarian-trained officer look at him. The dog’s injuries were not lifethreatening, so Croner decontaminated him back at the station to remove the chemical irritant residue and brought him to a veterinarian a few days later for a full checkup.
His wound was already starting to heal, so the veterinarian and Croner decided to let nature run its course, but unfortunately Styng’s injury reopened after a few days and he went back for internal stitches.
Styng is now fully healed and back on duty.
This was the worst injury Styng has gotten so far, Croner said, mentioning only one other incident where a suspect bit Styng’s head and attempted to break his front legs in 2024.
“When we’re calling the dogs in to do something, it’s because a lot of other things have either failed or won’t work,” Croner said.
Deploying a K-9 is a less lethal option for the department and often used to avoid having to draw a gun, Public Information Officer Chris Padgett said, adding that community members don’t always understand the decision to deploy a dog.
“We have to consider the preservation of life,”
Padgett said. “ … We’re not looking to go in and try to take a life if we’ve got measures that mean avoiding something lethal.”
Loveland’s five K-9’s are trained to pull back upon command, meaning if a suspect were to suddenly surrender, the canine would immediately retreat if told, Croner said.
“Once we swing a baton, hit the pepper spray, pull the trigger, whatever it is, even a taser, the darts are going to go,” he said. “I can stop (Styng) and we have.”
Styng is a 6-year-old Belgian Malinois who has been with Croner since 2020. He’s trained in handler control, which was previously known as being a patrol dog, Croner said.
Styng is an expert in suspect apprehensions, building and item searches, narcotics detections, and tracking.
Croner described a recent situation where Styng apprehended a suspect that took off running. Croner said that as he was chasing after the suspect, he saw him attempt to pull a gun from his waistband, which prompted him to release Styng from his vehicle to apprehend him.
Croner has a button on his vest that opens a door for Styng to jump out of his vehicle at a moment’s notice.
Styng and Croner will head to Greeley this week for a training on working in environments with chemical irritants, explosive breaching and gunfire.
Explosive breaching is when tools like flash bangs or explosives are used to open secured areas, but because they can be loud and disruptive, they can also be distracting to a dog, which makes training important, Padgett said.
Styng has also completed various specific trainings, including working in water where he’s had to swim to shore, conduct a search, and swim back to a boat. He’s even practiced rappelling down the side of a building just in case he ever has to do any high deployments, like being on a fire ladder.
“Are we actually going to rappel the dog off the side of a building? Maybe, not exactly, but there might be something where we need to lower the dog on a line,” Croner said.
“ … We’re prepping the dogs to be able to handle anything and everything they’re ever going to handle on the street.”
Croner said training and repetitive actions help Styng gain confidence to work in any situation and under any pressures. He said he doesn’t want to be in a situation where Styng is witnessing something for the first time and stressed out by it.
“Everybody loves dogs, but these guys are a special breed,” Croner said. “They truly do make our city safer and we’re blessed to have them.”