It is back to work for DeKalb County police officer Norman Larsen and his K-9 partner Indi.

Indi was shot in the eye by the same suspect that fatally shot DeKalb County Police Officer Edgar Flores in December of last year. Now, three months to the day after he was wounded in the line of duty, Indi is back at work.

“I’m happy to announce that officer Larsen and K-9 Indi will return to duty today to continue serving DeKalb County,” Police Chief James Conroy announced Wednesday afternoon.

Indi led Officer Larsen into a wooded field after the suspect who shot Officer Flores ran. Once the suspect was discovered, he shot at the dog multiple times, hitting him in the eye.

Indi is a seven-year-old Belgian Malinois who has worked for the district for six years. Many thought the injury would side-line the dog or lead him to retirement.

Officer Larsen tells WSB Radio, that is not the case: “He’s coming back [to work] on his terms. That man in the woods with the gun didn’t dictate when it’s time for him to stop doing what he does.”

Officer Larsen says there are doubters out there that believe Indi should not return to work, but he says since Indi does most of his work with his nose, the loss of an eye will not affect him.

“Let’s test him on his current abilities, on his current job and we did so. And as we did [test him] on each facet of his job, he didn’t do it any different,” Larsen explained. This made the call to return him to service very easy on the department, Officer Larsen added.

Larsen also said Indi aced his certification training test this past Saturday, which signified he is in fact ready to return to the field.

And he says Indi loves what he does and has been itching to get back to work, with retirement far from his mind: “If there are any doubters out there, I’ll schedule them a sleep over and they would call me before I hit the driveway.”

The department presented both Officer Larsen and K-9 Indi with medals of valor and service on Wednesday -- their first day officially back on the job.