The day of the funeral of officer Bohdan Kovalenko had arrived, it was drizzling rain when a group of mourners entered the cemetery.
The man’s family, whom he had not seen for almost five years, had flown from Lviv to Kiev that morning. They took a seat next to the coffin when Bohdan’s colleagues in the service arrived at the site. All the military men were dressed in uniform, all except for one dog that walked beside them.
The dog, nicknamed Rex, had been the fallen officer’s partner, and he was devastated after losing his comrade.
The pair had a strained relationship from the beginning, but within months they had become inseparable, and now the dog was grieving the unexpected death of his friend during a warehouse robbery. The officers took their place among the mourners at the coffin, allowing the faithful dog to lie at their feet.
At first there was silence, broken only by the quiet sobs of Bogdan’s family. When Rex stood up and walked toward the coffin, the atmosphere changed.
The dog sniffed the edge of the coffin, whining quietly. The animal barked loudly, causing the guests to jump, and the officers tried to pull the dog away. The dog continued to bark as they led him away, but no one was prepared for the shocking truth they soon learned….
When Officer Bogdan Kovalenko joined the police force in 2012, he immediately decided to try to qualify for the canine unit. As a child, Bogdan was very fond of dogs and never went anywhere without his faithful dog. The pet had died two years earlier, but although the man was still grieving, he was ready to welcome a new best friend into his life….
A dog barked at his master’s coffin. Upon opening it, people SHOUTED in horror
Rex, a three-year veteran of the canine unit, had recently lost his partner to unforeseen circumstances. Normally, dogs in Rex’s situation would be put up for adoption through a cooperative program with local animal shelters. However, this dog didn’t trust new people, so he would have been difficult to adopt.
The dog’s best chance was to find and befriend a new partner.
Rex has been assigned numerous officers over the past year, and while the dog has tried his best to protect his human companion, he doesn’t seem to have made friends with any of them. Because of this, the dog ended up on the list of difficult dogs to place.
Dogs that didn’t get along well with their partners usually had their duty assignments taken away, and time was running out for Rex, until Bogdan was assigned as his partner. The man was warned in advance that it would not be easy to earn the dog’s trust, but he did not lose hope.
On the day he met his new partner, Bogdan took a treat and a soft dog bed to the trunk of the patrol car.
He was waiting impatiently in the police station parking lot when Rex was brought in, accompanied by another officer. Once the dog appeared, Bogdan couldn’t wait any longer. He reached out his hand toward the dog as he had been instructed to…
Rex sniffed curiously at the officer, barked, and lay down when the leash was handed over. The newly reunited partners were suddenly alone in the empty parking lot, and the man whistled softly, heading for the car. Rex followed him, climbing into the seat opposite the bedpan.
Bogdan frowned, but got behind the wheel anyway. He hoped that in time the dog would begin to trust him the way he had trusted his previous owner. The first week flew by like a blur…..
In a small town like this, there were no big accidents, so most of the calls were light. The pair worked well together, and although the dog obeyed all commands perfectly and even ate the food offered, Bogdan couldn’t help but feel sad that Rex still hadn’t bonded with him. After his shift, the dog would return to his enclosure at the station, rather than going home with his partner.
Most police dogs lived with their humans after work, but Rex was not interested in that at all. Bogdan worked very hard to make his home perfect for his canine partner.
After graduating from university, he moved to the neighborhood and lived alone as his family stayed in his hometown.
So he decided to turn his bachelor apartment into a safe and welcoming place for his new companion. A cozy blanket and warm bedding filled a corner of his room, and a few toys and treats remained sealed in packages, awaiting Rex’s arrival. Everything was ready for the dog’s arrival, yet as time went on, nothing changed.
It seemed that the dog would never be ready to go to his partner’s home. That all changed about two months after the couple teamed up.
The station received a call that a young girl, Oksana, was missing and had gone camping and had not returned.
Rescue teams could not find her, and no one could reach her on her cell phone. Bogdan and Rex quickly set out to find her. The dog was the best in the search and rescue unit, and everyone hoped that he could find the missing girl.
Once they arrived, the rescuers presented a piece of Oksana’s clothing provided by her parents. The dog sniffed it a few times, sniffed the fenced area, then barked and ran in the opposite direction. Officers and rescuers didn’t know why Oksana had changed
why Oksana had changed her route, choosing a path on the opposite side of the woods.
Bogdan hurried after his partner, dropping the leash from his hand. Rex ran fast, and soon the man lost sight of him as he sped up the trail. A few minutes later, a series of loud barks sounded along the trail….
Bogdan and the rescuers immediately rushed there. It took them a few minutes to get there, and once they did, everyone gasped in surprise. There had been a lot of storms in the area lately, it looked like part of the trail had collapsed into the gorge…