IKRO AND ETHAN

Dear Z & Ed,
 
Wanted to give you an updated picture of Ikro with Ethan and to tell you that both Ethan and I have really enjoyed Ikro for the past 5 years.  He has been a great dog and we always feels safe with him around.  He is always on guard, he loves to rough around with Ethan, he loves the girls Luna and Sage.  He is always polite to others and most important he is always obedient.  He is a joy to have around.
 
Thank you for selling him to me.
 
Maria & Ethan

Sebring police's K9 team passes drug certification
Ryan Pelham, Highlands Today Officer John Garrison of the Sebring Police Department K9 unit and his dog, 2-year-old German shepherd J.R., received a narcotics detector certification from the North American Police Work Dog Association about a month earlier than expected.ADVERTISEMENT


By JOE SEELIG

Highlands Today

Published: January 24, 2011

Updated: 01/24/2011 05:50 pm

SEBRING - Illegal drug peddlers and drug users beware: the city of Sebring Police Department now has a K9 team narcotics certified by the North American Police Work Dog Association, which reportedly is the most difficult certification to get.

Sebring Police K9 Patrol Officer John Garrison and K9 partner J.R., a black German shepherd dog imported from Germany, recently received certification and training to alert to methamphetamine, heroin, marijuana and crack and powder cocaine.

J.R. received his official name in honor of Sebring Police Sgt. Jimmie R. Moore, who died in the line of duty in 1976 when his car tire blew out at or near the intersection of U.S. 27 and Howey Road, now known as Flare Road.

"We just got our narcotics certificate in the mail today," he said Monday. "We're definitely proud of it."

He may even alert to some newer drugs like Ecstasy.

If one of the ingredients that he mentioned above was inside, "which most them do, then he'll alert to it," he said.

He gave much of the credit to Kissimmee's head trainer, Joe Mata, and Ed Reyes, of Ed Reyes K9 Training & Imports, located in Chuluota, from whom the city bought J.R.

The narcotics training was supplied free of cost by the Kissimmee Police Department, said Garrison. The tracking, search and rescue as well as apprehension training he is currently receiving in Chuluota is not free of cost, however.

"Good things come in small packages," Garrison said, when asked about the dog's lighter weight of 75 pounds.

He said in search-and-rescue work it makes it easier for him to lift the lighter dog. Also J.R. can get into tighter spaces, he said.

With the help of the public, the police raised about $25,000 toward the cost of the dog and training Garrison for the job.

Next, he hopes to find some funding to get a bullet-and-knife-proof vest for J.R.

Garrison, his wife, Joy, and daughter Savannah, moved to Sebring from South Carolina in late 2006, where he had worked as a corrections officer. In 2007 he was sponsored by the Sebring Police to attend the SFCC Public Safety Academy.

He was very grateful to his wife and daughter who supported him because he's been away from home a lot. Joy, 13, has even taken up dog training herself through the 4-H Club, with her German shepherd, named Legend.

He explained some of the training.

"They set up multiple vehicles and some of them have narcotics and some of them don't have narcotics," Garrison said. "You run through and you may go through on a blank car and you have to call 'This car's clean;' then you go to the next one; 'He's alerting.'"

There is a readable physical action the dog makes when he alerts that the handler knows.

"Once he has an alert and I can see where the odor's coming from I call it," he continued. "The test proctor says 'Yes' or 'No' and then I have the opportunity to probe inside the car and give him the command to find drugs."

"It can be really anywhere, but you have to be able to pinpoint exactly where it is," he said.

He and J.R. have to be ready for the real world where drug smugglers and dealers get very creative hiding the illegal narcotics.

"They do it everywhere," he said. "They actually put it in gas tanks where they have to stop more often to get gas, but the actual gas tank will be full of narcotics... If it's able to conceal narcotics he's able to smell it out."

Police Chief Tom Dettman was proud of Garrison when he read a brief e-mail last week to the city council announcing he and J.R., passed their training ahead of schedule.

Garrison and J.R. passed the test with 100 percent, he said. They had nine vehicle hides, four open area hides in fields and that, and four building searches.

"Didn't miss one; not one false alert," Dettman said proudly. "We've got a good dog on our hands, folks."

Garrison was in the process of trying to get Florida Department of Law Enforcement training early, which will save the taxpayers money for hotels and per diem and he'll be hitting the streets sooner than expected.



 

Ashley & Alex
 and Layla & Kobe

Ed & Z,

We have known you guys for nearly 2 years now, ever since we were looking for a second dog. When our new little addition started to misbehave, we knew exactly where to bring her for training! Layla has been attending Sunday classes ever since she was 8 months old. She went from an obnoxious out of control puppy, to a promising schutzhund prospect!

Whether we are walking our dogs in public or playing at the park, we continually receive compliments on how beautiful and well behaved they are. That we owe to you! Your training methods are effective and easy to understand. You not only trained our dogs, but you trained us too! Thank you!


Ashley & Alex
 (and Layla & Kobe)