I have not seen anything that says the police checked with a lawyer. And I suspect you're conflating this with another case, as this was not a murder case.
And if they did, the mere fact that they contacted an attorney to say "does this person's request for a lawyer constitute a valid legal request for a lawyer?" says they absolutely knew that was precisely what was being requested, and were just playing fuck-fuck games.
Because if they weren't, are you (and they) going to argue with a straight face, "No, it was sincerely believed that he was requesting a canine who was admitted to the bar in the state of Louisiana to provide him counsel" then at best you're being absurdist, and at worst, well...
Apropos of ANY of that, the moment the suspect requests counsel (or requests something that sounds sooooo close to requesting counsel that you need to contact an attorney to verify whether they agree that it was a request for counsel or not) you're supposed to immediately terminate the interview. They did not.