Work Won't Start Without Belly Rub For This Cop

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — We can all sympathize with Jango Fett, a K-9 cop who didn't want to go to work last week. When his human partner, Anne Arundel County Sheriff's deputy Ryan Costin headed for his patrol vehicle, his four-legged sidekick was having none of it.

Jango flopped on his side on the grass as Costin's wife began rolling video and laughing from the doorway of their home. The duo had Wednesday through Friday left to work, but the canine simply looked at his handler as he tapped his leg and gestured toward the open back door in his SUV.

"My boy Jango Fett really didn’t want to go to work today !!!!!!! I had to reason with him," Deputy Costin posted on Facebook April 24.

After failed attempts over more than a minute, Deputy Costin bent down, rubbed the Belgian Malinois' head and belly. That did the trick and Jango then leapt into the SUV ready to head to work.

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"What's that, positive reinforcement," Costin's wife asked her husband. "So all I need to get ready for work is a belly rub? Got it. Check," she said with a laugh.

They shared the whimsical video on Facebook and it's been viewed 1.1 million times to date.

The department sympathized with Jango.

The agency said on Facebook, "A beautiful Spring day makes the best Deputies want to play hooky!! Yes we all love working at the Sheriff's Office, but just like our human Deputies, when spring fever hits even our awesome K-9's just want to go to the park and lie in the cool grass and maybe play a little catch....or um fetch!!"

Image via Shutterstock; video from Ryan Costin on Facebook