Bend PD drug-detection K-9 Ladybug retires after impressive 4-year tenure

(Update: Adding Ladybug living with Pennock's family in retirement)

Over 500 deployments, seizures of meth, heroin, cocaine and fentanyl

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- After four years on the job, Bend police drug-detection K-9 Ladybug retired last month, having racked up quite an impressive haul of drug seizures, police said Tuesday. 

Ladybug, a 9-year-old Belgian Malinois, was purchased from Golden Gate K-9 in Santa Rosa, Calif., which provides patrol and drug detection K-9s to agencies up and down the West Coast, police Communications Manager Sheila Miller said. 

Ladybug trained as a passive alert detection dog, meaning she sits and stays or lays and stares when she detects the source of narcotic odors. 

She and her handler, Detective Rob Pennock, completed an initial 240 hours of training at the Washington State Department of Corrections Narcotic Dog Academy. She was certified in Washington, Oregon and California and never failed a certification test, passing them in March and April of 2019, January, April and July of 2020 and April and November of 2021. 

In her 43 months on the job, from March 2019 through November 2022, Ladybug was deployed 505 times.

She seized 14,804 grams of methamphetamine, 10,959 grams of heroin, 3,588 grams of cocaine and 4,317 fentanyl pills during that time, Miller said. 

In addition to her drug seizures, Ladybug also recovered $18,400 in cash, 13 illegal guns and was part of 233 arrests. 

Of note, Miller said: Ladybug’s role on patrol decreased dramatically after a 2021 Oregon Court of Appeals case changed how drug detection dogs could be used on traffic stops.  

"Over her tenure with the Bend Police Department, Ladybug was an invaluable member of our team, and we thank her for her service," Miller said. She added that Pennock, her handler, now works with K-9 Bonnie.  

Ladybug is now living with Pennock and his family in retirement.