Winnipeg police wish K-9 Judge a happy retirement

The Winnipeg Police Service wished one of its long-serving canine officers a long and healthy retirement today, while also showing off some of its officers-in-training.

Judge, a soon-to-be 11-year-old Belgian Malinois, will work his last shift on Thursday with his partner, Patrol Sgt. Scott Taylor.

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Since the pair joined the police service's canine unit in the spring of 2004, they have more than 500 arrests to their credit, and Judge has fathered 41 pups in four litters.

Six of those pups are working on the streets of Winnipeg, while others are working for police agencies across Canada and the U.S.

"It's bittersweet. It's hard to leave Judge, but I knew that this day was coming and it's here, and I'm excited to do something different," Taylor said at a news conference Tuesday.

Taylor will move to another investigative unit within the police service, while Judge will spend his retirement living with Taylor in his home.

Joining them at Tuesday's news conference were two of Judge's offspring: Bailey and Xandra, who are in training with Const. Scott Morier and Patrol Sgt. Wally Antoniuk, respectively.

"We're going to start evaluating her once the snow leaves," Antoniuk said of Xandra.

"We're going to put her through her paces and see how her tracking and her agility and her drive is."

As for Bailey, Antoniuk said the pup isa lot like his father.

"Very thorough in terms of how it tracks accurate and methodical. And that's a lot of how Judge worked," he said.

Click on the video player above to see Taylor talk about Judge's retirement and the younger police dogs.