DEPUTIES, DOGS DRIVE HOME DRUG ABUSE MESSAGE

Students in the Escalon Unified School District marked Red Ribbon Week
with many special activities, including a visit from K9 cops at Van
Allen Elementary.

San Joaquin County sheriff's deputies Terry Schaeffer and his K9
partner Rudy, along with deputy Ray Esparza and his dog Lesco, made a
stop on the Van Allen campus on Thursday afternoon, meeting and
greeting the students and teaching them a little bit about the dangers
of drugs.

Lesco, a Dutch shepherd, is from Holland and has been partnered with
Esparza for about four years. He weighs in at 68 pounds and can run an
estimated 28 mph.

"All his commands are in Dutch," Esparza told the students. "We don't
want the bad guys to tell him what to do."

Schaeffer has also been working with his dog, Rudy, for about four
years. Hailing from Czechoslovakia, Rudy weighs 110 pounds and can run
about 22 mph.

"He is the oldest dog and the largest dog we have in the department,"
said Schaeffer. "Rudy's caught a lot of people."

The dogs, like their handlers, have department-issued bulletproof
vests to help protect them.

Key to the work of the dogs is getting on the "fear scent," said
deputies, since those running from the law - and the K9 pursuers - are
generally afraid. There is a special scent that people release when
fearful and the dogs are trained to go after that scent during a chase.

"Our dogs can run into a house and go right to the bad person,"
Schaeffer explained.

Not naturally vicious, the K9 dogs sat patiently waiting for commands
as the students gathered on the lawn of the elementary school. Lesco
even helped with a demonstration, chasing down Deputy Schaeffer, who
took on the role of the 'bad guy' and fled from Deputy Esparza during
one part of the presentation.

With a command given in Dutch by his handler, Lesco ran across the
field after the fleeing Schaeffer.

"Our dogs are not mean, vicious dogs," added Schaeffer. "But when we
put the dog in the car, it's like having a dog in your backyard, the
dog will attack because that is the dog's area."

That's why the K9 units are clearly marked as such and people are
advised to 'stay away' from the police cars when the dog is inside.

The dogs know 13 to 15 commands and have been involved in a number of
chases and search efforts over the years, said Esparza. Some are
trained as drug or weapons dogs, able to search out illegal substances
and guns. There are currently 11 K9 units on the job for the San
Joaquin County sheriff's department.

"We spend at least six months training with our dogs," Schaeffer said.
"We teach them to listen to us through repeated training."

The demonstration was just one of many special activities for students
throughout the district during the recent Red Ribbon Week observance.
Both deputies advised the young students to stay away from drugs,
urging them to take the Red Ribbon message to heart.

"Don't do drugs," Schaeffer said simply. "A person can get caught up
in drugs and within a couple of months...they've lost everything.
Drugs are addicting, drugs are bad. You get caught up in drugs, you're
going to lose."