Meet Gogo.  Gogo is a Male German Shepherd from the Czech Republic.  He and Deputy Len Letze graduated from the TSA National Explosives Detection K-9 School in March 2003 and Gogo was a diligent partner until he was forced to retire due to the pain from arthritis on July 4^th, 2009.

During his career Gogo helped keep the airport safe for the traveling public by conducting sweeps of aircraft, vehicles, luggage and cargo.  He had the pleasure of serving the citizens of the County of Orange, California, by searching trains and train stations during elevated security times.  Gogo was involved in many search warrant services and searching of hazardous locations identified by Law Enforcement.  He was part of the major security plan for highly publicized events including the World Baseball Series, World Games, Stanley Cups, MLB playoffs and many other events.  Gogo also conducted bomb sweeps for Presidents Carter, Bush Sr., Clinton, G.W. Bush and Obama and many other VIPs including Diplomats and foreign leaders.

When Gogo the dog developed a limp in his front leg he was put on medications for pain caused by degenerative elbow disease.  Unfortunately, he didn’t tolerate the pain medications well and other treatments didn’t relieve his pain.  Despite his willingness to work through the pain, it was decided it was in Gogo’s best interest to retire him from the bomb squad unit.  In an effort to give Gogo the retirement he deserved, Officer Letze looked into treating Gogo with stem cell therapy.  In this video (cell) you will see Gogo’s very noticeable limp on his front leg.  Watch his uneven stride and he has a slight head bob due to taking the weight off the effected leg.  In a series of blogs, we will be following Gogo as his stem cells are used to help improve his quality of life.