PORTLAND, Ore. — Washington County K9 'Radar' and his partner Sergeant Eamon O'Reilly have recently gained tens of thousands of followers on social media.
"We just started sharing food and for some reason that caught on," O'Reilly said.
Radar is a ten-year-old Belgian Malinois and has worked with O'Reilly for nine years. He's trained to track down suspects running from law enforcement but that's not the skill that sparked international attention. In the last few months, Radar and O'Reilly started taking videos while they shared snacks in a police cruiser. A simple moment each day, now a connection point for thousands.
“That’s bananas to me, it still just blows my mind," said O'Reilly from inside the car, hugging Radar.
O'Reilly says followers send food from all over the world. In one video, you can see the pair enjoying snacks sent by "Ali" from Zambia. The caption reads, "Doggo Excitement 8/10".
Despite some of the videos reaching more than one million views, O'Reilly says that's not what he's focused on.
"There's always an interest in seeing a different side of law enforcement and that includes law enforcement dogs," O'Reilly said. "People have an image of what they are, what we do and seeing something unique from us or seeing something that makes us feel more like real people is interesting."
O'Reilly said he loves to answer questions about Radar and what they do as a team. It's also an opportunity to change the narrative when it comes to the public's perception of officers.
"People letting me know their experiences, and how what they see from me and Radar differs from what... experiences they’ve had before or expectations," he said.
As Radar's career begins to wind down, O'Reilly can't help but praise his companion.
"He will work regardless of how uncomfortable he is," O'Reilly explained. "It can be really hot outside, it can be really cold outside. We'll go into attics or into crawl spaces that are incredibly uncomfortable for both me and Radar and he will just continue to work through that until he has found who he is looking for."