When Montgomery County police Cpl. Phil Brower’s wake-up alarm buzzed at 4 a.m. on workdays, his K-9 partner Monte would attempt to drag him out of bed with a nuzzle from a wet nose and an eager stare.
Monte, an 8½-year-old Belgian Malinois-German shepherd mix from Slovakia, was so excited to start the day that he sometimes skipped breakfast to avoid delaying their departure in a police cruiser, according to Brower. And when the pair clocked out at the end of a shift, Monte’s focus immediately shifted to being petted and playing ball.
“Some police dogs have trouble not being police dogs—they can’t shut it off, but Monte just had that switch,” Brower told MoCo360 on Wednesday, recalling the beloved police dog who died suddenly nearly two weeks ago.
Brower, a 23-year veteran of the county police department, joined the K-9 unit in May 2018 and became a first-time handler to 20-month-old Monte, who had just joined the force. After suffering a medical emergency involving tumors discovered on his liver, Monte died peacefully Dec. 19 in the Brower family’s arms.
“Nothing else has given me more pleasure in the police department than working with [Monte],” Brower said. “As long as we were doing something, he was having the time of his life and that made it fun for me.”
More than a police dog
According to Brower, Monte had distinct personalities on and off duty, although his enthusiasm and excitement followed him everywhere. Like Brower, Monte was certified in patrol work and controlled dangerous substances detection. A veteran K-9 officer once told Brower that he would “never have another one like him.”
One of Monte’s most notable cases involved quickly tracking down an armed homicide suspect in the woods. Monte not only stopped the suspect from escaping but he also prevented him from reaching a loaded handgun, county police said.
At home, Monte was gentle and playful. He often curled up with the Brower family’s cat, allowed the backyard chickens to walk all over him and once caught a wild turkey in the woods in an attempt to play with it until the bird flew off, according to Brower.
“I loved [Monte] from day one,” Brower said. “There was definitely a little bit of a break-in period of just getting to know each other, building that bond, getting that trust and so forth, which didn’t take long at all. He quickly evolved into being more than just a police dog.”
On their days off, Brower and Monte would start every morning with a long walk through the woods. This inspired Brower to create the Iron Dog campaign, a competitive 3-mile obstacle course for police dogs and their handlers, according to the event website. The event later evolved into a charity fundraiser for Spike’s K9 Fund, a Virginia-based nonprofit supporting working dogs, and attracted K-9 teams from across the country.
An unexpected illness
On Dec. 18, Monte completed his shift with his usual vigor. But just two hours later, Brower noticed a sudden change — Monte looked like “a zombie,” and didn’t want to eat or move. He was rushed to Veterinary Referral Associates in Gaithersburg, where veterinarians discovered he was bleeding internally around his spleen.
With no surgeon available, Monte was escorted to Friendship Hospital for Animals in Washington, D.C., with police lights and sirens. At around 3:30 a.m., Brower was informed Monte would stay in the Intensive Care Unit overnight for further testing.
“Deep down inside, I kind of had a feeling that this was going to be the end,” he said. “I joked that the two of us already had plans to retire together and count our gray hairs. This was not part of the plan, by any means.”
The next day, Brower received the devastating news—Monte wasn’t a viable candidate for surgery due to the numerous tumors in his body. “I completely and utterly broke down,” he said. “He was my second child. You’re sitting there waiting … and then someone tells you, ‘This is the end.’ ”
In a private hospital room, Brower, his wife and their daughter spent a final hour with Monte. With pain medication, Monte appeared like his “semi-normal self,” wagging his tail, sporting his goofy smile and trying to play ball, according to Brower.
“Considering the circumstances, it couldn’t have gone better,” Brower said. “It didn’t linger on, he wasn’t in pain, he wasn’t suffering, he wasn’t alone, he didn’t get killed in the line of duty. It was sudden, and he was happy and loved until his last breath.”
Since Monte’s death, life has felt “empty and weird,” Brower said, but each day has gotten a little bit better. He hopes Monte’s legacy lives on through the Iron Dog and Spike’s K9 Fund, which offered to cover Monte’s medical expenses when the foundation heard of his hospitalization.
“The more people read [Monte’s] story and hear what we did with [the charity], the more it might make a difference for someone else’s dog,” Brower said.
