The Montgomery County Sheriff's Department is bracing to lose an eight-year veteran who is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is paid only in companionship, meals and a warm bed.
Budget documents list him as 'canine' and estimate his replacement cost at $8,800.
But he's a good deal more to Sgt. Robert 'Wes' Burns.
He's Odum - full-time partner, family and friend.
The numbers that count for Sgt. Burns, the German shepherd and their colleagues now are the days they have left together until a disease attacking Odum's kidneys end his career and his life.
Odum's veterinarian, Dr. Brad LeVore, says it could be a few months or as much as two years.
'By the time you see [what Odum's tests indicate], kidneys have already lost 75 percent of their function,' Dr. LeVore said.
Yet the dog never complained or failed to do what he was told. But Sgt. Burns, his handler, said he knew something was amiss this spring when he had to coax Odum to eat.
Some intravenous treatments appear to have restored Odum's energy and appetite.
The only medication he takes is an over-the-counter antacid. And he eats a special dog food.
Until Dr. LeVore diagnosed the dog's problem, Sgt. Burns thought he and Odum - who will turn 53 and 10, respectively, next month - would retire at the same time.
'We're still using him for call-outs for explosives,' Sgt. Burns said.
But his head-turning, 105-pound pal no longer patrols the courtrooms and halls of the Judicial Center, where, as Sgt. Burns said, more than a few loiterers and suspects have 'come up ready to fight - until Odum had a few words with them.'
'The vet just feels that detail is a little more strenuous for him,' Sgt. Burns said.
Not that Odum is aggressive, Sheriff Raymond Kight said.
But on command, or if someone agitates Odum, 'he'll bark or go right in their face' Sgt. Burns explained.
Only once, both men said, could they recall Odum biting anyone. That happened when Odum was tracking auto-theft suspects, and two persons spotted officers and fled.
Odum ran the two up a tree. They hadn't ransacked the stolen car, but Odum wasn't exactly wrong. They had just escaped from a detention center.
Off-duty, Odum seems to enjoy attention and meeting new people.
Outside his kennel with Sgt. Burns on Wednesday morning, Odum gently kissed some first-time visitors. Then he kept one eye on the audience while he and his orange ball tumbled across the courthouse lawn.
'We're going to miss him,' Sheriff Kight said. 'Wes would tell him to go find the boss, and he'd go until he found me and lick me. Wes loves him, and I love him, too.'
Recent bomb threats meant Odum was called to protect John F. Kennedy High School students and staff, housed while their school is being renovated, at Northwood Center in Silver Spring.
Odum's career has made him known to thousands of schoolchildren - including Rocky Ridge Middle School students in Clarksburg early last year. After a pipe bomb was found in a locker at the school, Odum's search of a suspect's home uncovered bomb-building materials.
In July, Odum and Sgt. Burns roamed the rough and hedges at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville looking for explosives after a club worker discovered one of the potentially most lethal pipe bombs ever found in Montgomery County. Just a foot long, it was nonetheless rigged to kill anyone within 400 feet.
In August 1993, when Rockville hosted the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's convention - marking the 30th anniversary of the Washington march led by Martin Luther King - Odum worked '72 hours of the longest days for a canine,' Sgt. Burns said.
The four-legged deputy, who wears his badge on his collar, scoured each room for explosives before Coretta Scott King, widow of the slain civil rights leader, and other prominent people were allowed to enter.
Now deputies are reserving tables at Lakewood Country Club to be with Odum on June 16 when he's slated to be the guest of honor at a banquet. There, the Rockville Chamber of Commerce and a coalition of civic and social-service clubs will award him a medal for valor.
'It's presented for bravery and courage,' said John Tyner, chairman of the awards committee.
As the first canine recipient, Odum probably won't recognize the award's significance, but Mr. Tyner said he hopes the dog enjoys the event.
It's a moment expected months later that deputies say Sgt. Burns has speculated Odum will find harder to grasp.
'Wes expects Odum won't understand one morning when he's waiting to leave the house for work and he tells him to stay,' Capt. William Noonan said.
But, on the advice of a U.S. Capitol Police buddy whose dog died, Sgt. Burns took steps three years ago that may make it easier when he and Odum are apart.
He adopted 'Acea,' a German shepherd puppy who has grown into a life of leisure in the Burns home as Odum's 'little brother.'
When Odum's time comes, Sgt. Burns said, 'He'll die naturally, unless he's in pain. I won't disrupt his quality of life by letting him linger.'
Then, as has become the custom when death takes an officer's canine partner, the dog will be cremated.
'I've been through thinking about it - his urn will fit real nice with his trophies at home,' Sgt. Burns said.
As soon as county officials approve the funding, Sgt. Burns said he'll turn some thought and effort to a search for Odum's successor.
