Last night June 12, 2023, SLO County Sheriff Retired Canine Officer Jacco took his last breath here in Tennessee.

He was a part of our family for 12 yrs. as we got him when he was 1 1/2 yrs old. He was born in Belgium as He is a Belgium Malinois and all of his commands were German. He was originally trained as a show dog, but his potential was not that, but a Sheriff Canine Officer.  His trainer, Ted Bowman, made an exceptional Sherriff Dog out of Jacco as one of the best around, with 1000's of hrs of training with John.  Jacco and John Franklin made an amazing team and bonded instantly. He was trained in narcotics detection, and large amounts of drugs and money seizures where located by him in cars, houses, buildings, and open areas. He even flew under helicopters with John clearing rural marijuana gardens and ponga boats coming up from Mexico. He really excelled in searching for hidden or concealed persons. His open area suspect searching and building searches were exceptional, and he could also locate lost items and track missing persons and suspects. For most of his career, he trained and conducted searches of barricaded suspects with the SED team( SWAT). He was injured several times by suspects, but He always fought through it and captured the bad guy. He was a great asset and assistant to the citizens and law enforcement of SLO County and surrounding areas. He had a great personality and super friendly around people growing up with our Grandchildren at our home. His school and public demonstrations showed how well-trained and friendly he was but he could turn in an instant to being one of the most protective dogs you will ever meet. He loved going in and spreading his love,hair, and slobber all over the dispatchers in our County.

He retired with his handler John in 2017 and moved to a 20-acre farm in the Chattanooga area of Tennessee. He loved his 1-acre pen at the front of the farm, greeting everyone with his bark when they came in. Our Son in Law, Ben Goodwin and daughter Katie Goodwin took great care of him, feeding and putting him in his kennel every night for bed. Their kids played with him every day. Amazing built-in security system, barking at anything with a motor. He loved running down to our blue hole and jumping in to get his conge or stick with his sister, a Golden Retriever named Lexi. She grew up with Jacco her whole life and is already missing him today. He was John's shadow whenever he was out of His kennel. They had a very tight bond that I'm so grateful for. Knowing He was on patrol every day with Him helped me a little.

He lived a great life at work and at home, and He will never be forgotten and is already missed by us all. Please pray for our family, as he was part of ours.

Also, this was written by our County yesterday in honor of him on their Facebook page...

San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Office