Dog Trainer Puts Heart into His Work (continued)

Don Suereth, who was Peruyero's supervisor for several years on the K-9 squad, gives his former charge high marks:

"Pepe is the kind of person that can relate with just about anybody or anything," he said. "He's good at picking out problems and working to make the relationship between a dog and his handler a good one."

Caroline Hebard - who has led canine search-and-rescue teams in the aftermath of five earthquakes, two hurricanes and the Oklahoma City bombing - said Peruyero is training Petro, her 2-year-old German shepherd.

"He has a lot of insight into the canine behavior," she said.

She said she and Petro searched amid the rubble left by a tornado that killed 40 people when it passed through Osceola County last month. Petro found two live gerbils in a cage, which were later reunited with the boy who owned them. Petro also gound a corpse and after returning to Gainesville, the dog was emotionally charged and needed to relax.

"That dog needed to do something a little different," she said. Peruyero "played with him a little bit - then got back to working with him, but the work was something different. He can really pick up on what my dog is doing," she said.""

Peruyero knows perhaps as well as anybody what it means to have a well-trained dog. He thinks Ross may have saved his life. In September 1993, Peruyero and Ross were called to the scene of an armed drug confrontation. When they arrived, a man with a handgun fired a shot and ran into the woods. Peruyero released Ross after the man. The dog

disappeared into the woods. A few moments later, Peruyero heard shots, and then silence. He thought Ross was dead. Eventually, Ross came running out of the woods. Moments later, the suspect ran out of the woods. Peruyero released Ross again.

Ross chased the man, bit him in the left arm and held him until officers could get there. Peruyero believes he might have been shot were it not for Ross's heroics.

"You train a dog to do a lot of things, but when you train a dog like a police dog, you hope you'll never have to release him under gunfire," Peruyero said. "That's the ultimate test. And that time, he performed."

J&K Canine Academy isn't aiming to make Rin Tin Tins out of the dog next door. Peruyero said he just wants to give people enough information and training so they can enjoy their dogs. "None of the techniques I used are designed by me. They've been around for a long time," he said. "The key to it is to design a realistic program that the everyday person can do."

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