Nez Perce Tribe K9 buried with high honors

Ruger, the retired K9 for the Nez Perce Tribal Police, was buried in the Nez Perce Tribal Cemetery in Lapwai, looking over the community he served.

Sgt. Mike Stegner was Ruger’s handler from 2017 until his retirement in 2021. When Ruger retired he became the Stegner’s family dog.

Stegner applied to be Ruger’s handler in 2017 after his previous handler Dustin Pulley left the department. When Stegner was going through training as a handler, Ruger already had three years on the job.

“He was definitely the smart one on the end of the leash,” Stegner said of Ruger. “He knew his job.”

Part of the training was also learning Ruger’s changes in behavior when he was around narcotics. The two were then certified through the state of Idaho and also received federal certification.

In his work Stegner said that Ruger was one of the top dogs in the entire northwest and wanted to work. As a dog he was “extremely happy” and enjoyed being with his family, Stegner’s wife, Angie Stegner, and his kids who all “loved him to death,” Stegner said.

When Stegner moved to detective in 2020, Ruger started showing signs of aging and was starting to slow down. He also had a couple surgeries. That’s when the decision was made in 2021 to let him retire and live the rest of his life as Stegner’s dog. Stegner purchased Ruger from the Nez Perce Tribal Police Department and took him home.

“It took him a couple months probably to fully understand he was retired,” Stegner said.

Ruger still wanted to work and was a little sad he wasn’t able to do his job.

Even in his retirement his nose kept him busy. When he was a working dog he had a special toy that he was given as a reward when he found narcotics. In his retirement he could play with the toy as much as he wanted to without having to work for it. Ruger would also use his nose to sniff out his toy if it got lost under the couch. He’d give an alert to Stegner, which in his working days meant he detected narcotics, but in his later years meant he found his toy.

Ruger enjoyed taking trips in the car, even to the store, Stegner said anytime Ruger was in the car he was having a good day.

Ruger’s reach went beyond Stegner and his family, which included a cat and dog in the home that are also missing Ruger. Stegner said that people from the police department, tribe and the community were always asking about Ruger. For many years Stegner was able to report that Ruger was in good health but he started to decline in the last month.

Ruger was given a tribal burial and was wrapped in a thin blue line flag where Stegner’s brother’s relatives are buried, according to Stegner’s Facebook page. In the Facebook post, Stegner also writes that being Ruger’s handler was “one of the most rewarding things I’ve done.” He thanked the Nez Perce Tribe for trusting him with Ruger, and Leotis McCormack, John Williamson and Brooks Baptiste, among others, for preparing his burial at the Nez Perce Tribal Cemetery. He also thanked Angie Stegner, his wife, for letting him bring Ruger home and loving him.

“I was a mess on Monday,” he said, when talking about losing Ruger.

The relationship between Stegner and Ruger goes deeper than a traditional pet relationship.

“He was with me almost 24 hours a day for years when he was in service. After he retired he was still there every day but the bond of a K9 and his handler — you can’t replace it,” Stegner said. “It’s hard to put words on that one.”

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.