By: Tim Kays
Bryan Police Department Officer Matt Sammons has been serving the citizens of Bryan since January of 2019. The son of Rob and Dawn Sammons, Matt was born and raised here.
Matt and his girlfriend Ashley are expecting a baby boy, “…literally any time,” he said. For the past seven weeks though, Matt has been working to raise another baby by the name of Tyson.
Tyson is a big boy at two years of age, but that big golden brown canine body is carried about with surprising strength, speed and graceful energy. Tyson and Sammons are currently serving as partners with the BPD.
Although he resembles a German Shepherd, Tyson is a completely different breed. “He’s a Belgian Malinois, with a little Shepherd in there,” Sammons said, “…but he looks more like the Shepherd in the face.”
According to the AKC, Belgian Malinois are, “…squarely built, proud, and alert herders standing 22 to 26 inches. Strong and well-muscled, but more elegant than bulky, there’s an honest, no-frills look about them, as befit dogs built to work hard for their feed.
A breed hallmark is the proud carriage of the head. Coat colors range from a rich fawn to mahogany. The black ears and mask accentuate bright, questioning eyes the color of dark Belgian chocolate.”
As Sammons sat down to speak, Tyson’s motor was still fully engaged. He noticed everything, and everything that he noticed, he had to investigate. “They told me as big as he is, it’s going to be a little bit before he grows out of that puppy stage,” Sammons said with a smile.
“He’s trying to get used to that big body. He is ridiculously strong. Everybody’s like, ‘Oh he’s so skinny.’ No, he is solid, SOLID muscle. They said at school that when he comes home, doing the feeding and everything right, he could get up to about 120 pounds.”
“I just don’t know if I want him to get that big because he’s probably 95 or 100 now, and he is a bear to handle. When he wants to track, you might as well just lay down.”
Tyson comes to Bryan with a lot of training under his collar. Sammons said, “At the Vohne Liche Kennels, they told us that they kind of imprinted him a little bit on dope, and tracking just a little bit, and some obedience.”
“And then we did six weeks of everything, tracking, narcotics, obedience and pretty much you name it. Tracking is by far his favorite thing to do. I mean he likes finding drugs and everything like that, but when it comes to tracking, he’s all about it.”
Tyson hit it off with his new partner right from the start. Sammons recalled that first meeting, saying, “So we went there (Vohne Liche), and they showed just a bunch of dogs. He was actually the first dog to go.”
“The minute I saw him, I saw that size, and I was like, ‘I want that dog.’ I saw a couple other ones. I walked one, and just walking I didn’t have ‘that feeling.’ I walked him, and it just seemed like he was good with me right off the bat.”
The acclimation period at the Sammons home is still underway. “We’ve tested a few times,” Matt said. “He’s not really house trained very well, so I’ve got a smaller kennel inside in my kitchen right now that he stays in, and I plan on building an outside kennel for him to stay in to sleep inside. When he goes home, he usually runs around my garage and hangs out in there.”
“That’s where he eats and everything like that. It’s a big adjustment for him too, especially with his size. I mean, he chose to get up on the couch…he just doesn’t fit. Half of his body’s on, half is off; he just doesn’t know what to do with himself.”
As it is with other people, one gets to know the personality of a dog as time goes by. Sammons didn’t hesitate to name the most profound personality trait that he’s seen in his new partner, “Loyalty, big time,” he said emphatically.
“He’s very loyal. I found out the other day does not like cats. We were running radar, he saw one go by and he just went off.”
“Personally, he’s very obviously very sociable, and he’s got a very, very high drive. He wants to work. As soon as he gets in the truck, he just kind of flips the switch going from home, to ‘Okay, I know it’s time to go to work.’”
Tyson has yet to be called into any canine oriented details. “He’ll obviously be utilized for vehicle searches,” Sammons said. “He can track, trail, do area searches for buildings. So say a suspect runs inside of the house, he’s able to by himself go in, clear the entire house and find that suspect.”
“So that’s what we’re looking forward to. He still has to get certified through the State of Ohio. The school I went to, they’re certified through OPOTA (Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy).”
“But then I was told that we had to get an evaluation done for Ohio before he can actually go out and start hitting the dope and doing the tracking and everything like that.”
What all goes into that certification? “From what I’m told,” Sammons said, “…there’s a couple hides that you find for dope. Some aggression recall, so it’d be there’s a suspect, and you send him for the bite.”
“The suspect gives up, and you just call the dog off to where he just lays down. You have to be able to do that…to call him off the bite.”
While Tyson will have his obvious duties in the future, don’t be too surprised to see him also taking up the role of four-legged goodwill ambassador. “That is one of the things that we’re going to do,” Sammons said.
“The Chief (Chris Chapa) had said something about that. That’s probably going to be in the upcoming weeks. I’d imagine us introducing him to the schools, and everything like that. So far, he’s still kind of getting used to the guys on shift. Obviously it’s a big change for him.”
“He’s used to just a bunch of people in plain clothes with their dogs, hanging out with each other and doing venues. Now we’re actually at work; he’s trying to get acclimated to everything. So it’s just one variable at a time.”
“I’m excited to work with him. I don’t think I’ve ever picked up a bond like this with a dog right off the bat like him and I.”
Still investigating everything in the room, Tyson remained in motion. “He’s good,” Sammons said. “Like right now, he wants to go hunt; he’s always wanting to work. I couldn’t ask for a better dog. I couldn’t ask for a better partner, and the fact that he’s so sociable, it makes things a lot easier.”
When Officer Matt Sammons is out on patrol, he knows that his partner has his back at all times. “We had a traffic stop the other day,” he recalled, “…and the guy was kind of being a jerk to the other officer. His window was partially down; he picked up on it, and he went off, barking and going crazy in there.”
“It really settled the person down, so for me, the sense of security I have just myself with him is fantastic. I step out of the vehicle, and he’s watching everywhere I go. If I’m with a bunch of people talking or anything like that, he starts to get a little angry because he doesn’t understand what’s going on.”
Once his partner presses the button on his remote, Tyson springs into action and nobody…NOBODY is going to outrun him. “At school in one of our last days,” Sammons recalled, “…we rolled up like we’re going to talk to a suspect with a felony warrant. We told him to come over the car, and he said no and took off running, so we had to chase him.”
“Pop the door…call your dog. I called him, and before I could even blink my eyes, he was already 20 feet ahead of me, getting the bite. That’s what’s great; he sees two people running, and obviously he’s able to distinguish me from the other guy, which is fantastic.”
The synchronization and bond between these new partners is growing by the hour, and the City of Bryan is more than fortunate to have a team like Sammons and Tyson. Here’s to a long watch of happy and healthy service to the community.
Tim can be reached at tim@thevillagereporter.com