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Wheeling police K-9 Duke remembered as hard worker

Just four months into his retirement, Duke, the Wheeling Police Department's longtime K-9, died Monday.

Duke served the department with his handler, officer Jeremy Hoffman, for nine years. The German shepherd retired in July and would have turned 11 on Dec. 12.

"He just loved to work. He didn't want to retire," Hoffman said. "It took him a couple months to get used to not going to work with me."

Hoffman says Duke whined for hours after he would leave the house in his uniform without bringing Duke along.

"He'd see the uniform and put two and two together. Sometimes I'd have to leave the house with a jacket on so he wouldn't know where I was going," he said.

Duke suffered from degenerative myelopathy, the dog version of multiple sclerosis, which affected his brain and spine.

"It got to a point where we had to do everything for him. He couldn't walk," Hoffman said.

And while Duke went to work with Hoffman every day since April 2006, and even helped track a major marijuana shipment sent to a Wheeling trucking company from Texas, he left his job behind when he and Hoffman got home.

"Once we got home he would never bark, and he wasn't aggressive," Hoffman said. "He really knew the difference between work and home."

Former Wheeling Police Department K-9 Duke died earlier this week, just four months into his retirement after nine years of service. Courtesy of Jeremy Hoffman
Wheeling Police Department K-9 Duke grabs a drink during a break from duty. Duke died earlier this week, just four months into his retirement after nine years of service. Courtesy of Jeremy Hoffman
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