At attention ready to serve.
This is how sculptor David Biehl wants others to remember K-9 officer Kobus.
"I thought it was something that would be nice to capture” Biehl said.
The clay sculpture carries the likeness of the nine-year-old Belgian Malinois, whose last mission embodied his calling: protecting the lives of law enforcement.
On a cold January day, during a marathon stand-off, the K-9 unit sent him inside a home where a suspect shot and killed him.
The loss was unimaginable for his handler Officer Matt Mckinney, and felt by the community as seen at the funeral.
With all of the media coverage, Biehl says, he had to do something.
“I decided to go ahead donate my time and materials to produce a life size sculpture of Kobus and then was just looking for someone to fund it,” he said.
So he poured over pictures of Kobus.
“I also went out to the area where they train the dogs to see the Belgian Shepherds and just to get an idea on their size and thickness,” Biehl said.
Biehl said he's spent nearly 70 hours working on what's seen inside the Main Street Studio and Art Gallery in Elkhorn.
But then, the project came to a halt for weeks and all it needed was the bronze pour.
The cost - up to $75,000.
And just like life - when you least expect it - Biehl got a break.
“We had an anonymous donor step up with a $7,000 commitment," he said. "So we're on our way,”
Biehl expects to complete the project by spring and the location details are in the works.
“My hope first of all that they would remember Kobus,” he said, when asked what he wants others to see when the statue finds its forever-home.
