After decorated law enforcement career, retired K9 ready for beach days

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — Yep is ready to relax.

After an impressive law enforcement career that included more than 100 arrests and large amounts of drugs taken off the street for the Myrtle Beach Police Department, the German Shephard retired last week, just shy of her eighth birthday.

Yep’s handler Tyler Struckus says his partner has made it easier to do his job.

“She was pre-trained, probably as a puppy if I had to guess,” he said. “We’ve had just over 500 deployments including article searches, tracks, narcotic sniffs, stuff like that. We’ve had a lot of good finds. We’ve found some homicide weapons, we found some drugs here and there.”

Struckus said a police dog’s retirement is usually based on long they’ve worked, and the agency was able to secure a replacement to give Yep the rest she’s earned.

“She loves the beach, so I’ll probably take her on vacation. I was never really able to take her anywhere because she technically belongs to the department even though she’s my dog and I handle her,” he said. “Now that she’s retired, I’ve adopted her through the city.”

Struckus said Yep may travel to Florida, New Jersey and other locations.

Originally from the Netherlands, Yep and Struckus spent six weeks training before she graduated from K9 school in October 2019.

As for her unique name?

“That’s the name that she had. It’s a unique name, it’s really short and easy to say when we’re working so we stuck with it,” Struckus said.

He’s preparing to train with a new K9 in coming weeks, but Yep remains a big part of his life.

“If it wasn’t for her, I probably wouldn’t have been the handler that I am, so I appreciate all her hard work,” he said.

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Adam Benson joined the News13 digital team in January 2024. He is a veteran South Carolina reporter with previous stops at the Greenwood Index-Journal, Post & Courier and The Sun News in Myrtle Beach. Adam is a Boston native and University of Utah graduate. Follow Adam on X, formerly Twitter, at @AdamNewshound12 . See more of his work here .

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Jackie LiBrizzi is a multimedia journalist at News13. Jackie is originally from Hamilton, New Jersey, and was raised in Piedmont, South Carolina. Jackie joined the News13 team in June 2023 after she graduated as a student-athlete from the University of South Carolina in May 2023. Follow Jackie on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook , or Instagram , and read more of her work he r e .

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