Please Welcome K-9 Bear #379

Please welcome K-9 “Bear” to our Project K-9 Hero Pack as our 379th Program Member. Bear served as a Dual-Purpose Patrol/Narcotics Detection K-9 with the Hickory Creek Police Department in Texas from 2021, until he was medically retired on March 2nd, 2026, due to being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.

In his five plus years of service, K-9 Bear had 832 deployments, in which 2,380 lbs of illegal substances were found, which have led to dozens of federal and state prosecutions. K-9 Bear had located two missing children and found one elderly person with dementia, all while also capturing dozens of criminals for local, state, and federal agencies.

K-9 Bear was the first dog in history to certify to discriminate between the odors of Hemp and Marijuana, through the American Working Dog Association. Bear represented Team USA at the 2025 World Police and Fire Games, winning a gold medal in detection and a silver medal in the K-9 Biathlon.

Bear is a seven-year-old male German Shepherd, who was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in March 2026. Due to the severity of the situation, Bear was immediately removed from service so he could undergo surgery and potentially live a long retirement.

However, he was later admitted to the ICU for pneumonia, and, at the time of this publishing, is being treated for life threatening symptoms.

We at Project K-9 Hero were honored to pay the initial down payment of $5,159.44 to save this Hero’s life. We are also covering the cost of his surgery, which will be between $8-10k, once he is healthy enough to have it.