New K-9 Learning the Ropes in Zephyrhills

When his K-9 partner was killed on Aug. 6, Zephyrhills Police Officer Joe Rinaldo went into a shell of grief and self-doubt.

He’d spent about every waking moment of the last three years with Gunner, a majestic solid black German shepherd who stood so tall on his hind legs he could wrap his paws around Rinaldo’s neck.

Losing Gunner was almost more than he could bear.

He considered quitting the department … for about a day.

“I could have left and probably been hired by another department,” Rinaldo said. “But I realized I had worked too long and too hard to start over somewhere else.”

The department held a memorial services for Gunner on Aug. 14, and the eight-year department veteran stunned the crowd when he vowed to return to the department’s K-9 unit. Within days, he was auditioning a new partner.

“My thought process was that the first Monday after the service, I went down there to get another dog,” Rinaldo said. “I was ready then.”

He missed having a dog around the house, and seeing that pointy black nose pressed up against the living room window when he pulled up in the driveway. He even missed having that dog smell in his Expedition. For weeks, he wouldn’t drive on the section of Gall Boulevard where Gunner was struck and killed.

“I still get goose bumps,” he said. “I don’t know if I’ll ever forget, but it’s not going to stop me from doing my job.”

Now he realizes he acted too quickly. He had to return the first dog after three weeks because of a medical issue. They had already bonded, and it nearly wrecked him.

“The worst part was having to return the first dog,” he said. “As a K-9 handler, you always know there’s a chance that could happen, and you prepare for it mentally. I wasn’t prepared.”

A few days after Labor Day, Rinaldo was back in Sarasota to meet Mako, a 15-month-old black and tan German shepherd who was all wagging tail and slobbery kisses. It was love at first site.

“He was so opposite of Gunner, so as for the healing process, this was the right dog for me,” Rinaldo said.

Gunner was a serious dog. Mako can be a bit of a clown. “I didn’t want to replace Gunner with another Gunner.”

The first night Rinaldo brought Mako home, he made the mistake of leaving the dog alone in a room with a double quarter-pounder from McDonald’s. Gunner, you see, never showed an interest in “human food.” Mako still has a lot of puppy in him, and he had a taste for fast food.

“When I came back, the bun and the pickles were on the floor,” he said. That sealed the deal.

For now, Mako is just getting used to being in Rinaldo’s police vehicle and adjusting to his 5 p.m. to 3 a.m. shift. Later this month, the team will start a grueling 14-week patrol dog training course. They’ll train at night so the dog will grow accustomed to working in the dark.

Rinaldo had worked with Gunner since May 2006 and trained for hundreds of hours, but the work did not come easily. Rinaldo was a rookie handler. His experience with Gunner will make his training with Mako go more smoothly.

“By default, I’ve become a veteran handler,” Rinaldo said. “And every veteran handler I’ve met said your second dog is your best.”

Mako has the makings of an outstanding police dog. “He has an intense prey drive,” Rinaldo said. “And he’s very protective.”

Rinaldo said he was overwhelmed by the support from the department and from the community, especially groups that donated money to help pay for Mako. “I couldn’t work in a better place, and I couldn’t serve better people.”

Gunner left a legacy of honor.

“We saved lives, we found drugs, we caught bad guys, and we never had a single bite,” he said. “Mako is not going to be Gunner, and right now I’m content with that. Hopefully, he will get a chance to retire and go off into the sunset. Then I can spoil him, and he’ll get plenty of quarter-pounders.”

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