By BRADLEY KEOUN - Sun staff writer . Dog Trainer Puts Heart into His Work

On a cool and overcast day in November, Pepe Peruyero cradled his retired police dog, Ross, on the steps of his High Springs home. He knew the dog was dying.

For five years, Peruyero and Ross, a German shepherd, had been partners on a Gainesville Police Department K-9 team. During that stint, they tracked armed robbers, pursued carjackers and responded under gunfire to catch a fleeing drug felon.

But as Ross was dying, Peruyero felt closer to the dog than he ever had before.

"When you spend so much time with a dog, you learn to sense it. It was almost like, we had been through so much together, and then, at this one point, just the way he acted, was totally different." said Peruyero, 40, who lives with his family in High Springs. "I know that he was telling me that it was OK to let go."

Ross died on Nov. 21. Peruyero resigned from the Gainesville Police Department in January to work full time on his dog-training business, J & K Canine Academy. His goal?

"If I can make 1 percent of the people I teach feel the bond that I experienced with Ross, then I've truly given them a gift," he said.

Peruyero has taught beginner and advanced puppy-school classes part-time for several years in the parking lot of the Gainesville Shopping Center, 1206 N. Main St.

Now, he's no longer shuttling between cops and dogs. It's all dogs.

"When we started (in September 1996), it just snowballed. What I expected to be 10 students a month turned out to be 60 students a month," Peruyero said. "I've always loved law enforcement."

""But all of a sudden I see this passion that I enjoy, and I could possibly make a living at it." Ross's death, he said, made it easier to quit.

"When I retired him (in August 1996), it was hard not having him out on the road with me, but at least I had him here (at home)," he said. "When I lost him, it was like - for some reason - a part of me wasn't there anymore."

He wasted no time setting up shop. In December, he bought 10-1/2 forested acres just north of the Santa Fe River. He built a small office, a row of large cages, a pen, an obstacle course and a water-filled sinkhole where doggies can practice their strokes.

What this provides is a very stable, comfortable environment," said Peruyero, gesturing to a shady grove in the woods where he does one-on-one training.

Peruyero is expanding his business to teach more group classes - they range from beginner to advanced - and to include more specialized training for search-and-rescue dogs. He also is planning new class locations, including the Countryside Animal Hospital in Alachua and a proposed site in Lake City. Right now, he trains 200 to 300 dogs a year in the group classes. He hopes to expand that to 400 a year. And that doesn't include the specialized work, which accounts for about half his business.

""Compared to my GPD salary, it's a little bit of a cut," he said. But it's not the money that's important. "I've been in law enforcement for 18 years, and I've met good people, bad people, questionable people," he says. "In all the years that I've been associated with dog people, I've met maybe four or five of questionable character - and had one check bounce. That's something you can't buy."

Compared to my GPD salary, it's a little bit of a cut," he said. But it's not the money that's important. "I've been in law enforcement for 18 years, and I've met good people, bad people, questionable people," he says. "In all the years that I've been associated with dog people, I've met maybe four or five of questionable character - and had one check bounce. That's something you can't buy."

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